


Hardly Working

by mkrcry



Series: Unsavoury Galar Region [9]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Alternate Universe - Information Technology, Gambling, M/M, Office
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:48:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25177180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mkrcry/pseuds/mkrcry
Summary: This is a continuation ofNew Hire
Relationships: Raihan/Leon
Series: Unsavoury Galar Region [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676005
Comments: 40
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

“Ughhhh…”  
Raihan woke up, feeling dizzy and regretful of last night's decisions. While shuffling around in bed, he realized not only was he in an unfamiliar place, he was also not alone. He turned to see who was asleep beside him. Pulling away the blanket a bit, he could see the long familiar purple hair of his client, and the fact that he wasn’t wearing anything much like himself.  
“Nnnn… Raihan, you awake?”  
Oh shit, he thought. His memories of last night were a bit hazy, but he definitely remembers bits and pieces of touching Leon just about all over.  
“LEON I AM SOR-”  
Before he could finish, Leon wrapped his arms around him and kissed him. With tongue. He wanted to move away but was powerless in pulling away from his tight embrace.  
“You drank a lot last night... I’ll go get you some water.”  
Leon passed him a small bottle of painkillers from his nightstand. He then got up off the bed, staggering just a bit as soon as he stood up. A white fluid trickled down his leg as he quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe it while he walked out of the room. Raihan slumped back down in bed. His head was throbbing and he couldn’t think straight. Leon came back shortly but he hadn’t put on anything. He turned his head away to avoid looking at his bare privates as Leon passed him the cup.  
“Oh, sorry! I’ll go put something on…”  
The atmosphere was getting awkward and Leon could tell Raihan wasn’t being as comfortable as he was last night. He turned around to put on his underwear.  
Raihan quickly took a painkiller and drank some water. He snuck a longer glance at Leon but nearly choked. There were hickeys all over his chest and two very noticeable bite marks around his nipples.  
“Were you planning on doing anything today?”  
Leon cheerfully asked him. He was definitely not feeling the same enthusiasm that he had.  
“Ahhh… I’m not really feeling well…”  
“Right…, let me take a quick shower and I’ll cook us something to eat.”  
“Thanks…”

Raihan felt terrible and stayed silent as Leon went to find some clean clothes before heading to the bathroom. Once he left, he let out a sigh.  
“I can’t believe I did all that…”

Last night after washing his face, he went into Leon’s room while he was changing. Leon was looking for a pair of shorts, and since he had trouble finding them, he thought of a bright idea to give him his own. He had taken off his pants so he could take off his boxer shorts and hand it to him. Leon turned around only to get freaked out by his unsolicited flashing and handing him his used underwear.  
“N-no, that’s fine… please put them back on!”  
Leon’s eyes were focused on his crotch and he most definitely stared at it a bit longer than he needed to. His face quickly became flushed and he turned away.  
Looking around the room and not putting his underwear back on, he noticed there was something sticking out between the dresser and the wall. He walked over and pulled out a pair of white shorts, probably the one Leon had been looking for.  
“Hey Leon, I think I found your shorts.”  
Leon turned around and immediately turned back. “Please put your underwear back on!”  
“Don’t wanna.”  
“Ughhh… fine, whatever! Just hand them over…”  
Leon walked up to him but he just dropped his shorts on the floor in front of him. He was starting to look visibly pissed.  
“I can’t believe this is what you’re really like, Raihan!”  
Leon knelt down to pick up his shorts, and avoided looking at him. At that moment he was overcome with sadness even though it was quite justified for Leon to react this way.  
“Please look at me Leon! I… I want to be closer to you!”  
“Wha-”  
He had grabbed his head and started pressing his crotch against his face.  
“Ohhh… Leon is… kissing me…”  
“I am not! Stop this, Raihan! Don’t make me hurt you!”  
Leon was trying to push him off but he was really holding onto him tightly.  
“Okaaay! I’m sorry Leon… Just… calm down…”  
He knelt down next to Leon and kissed him. Leon was most definitely repulsed and then he spent the next long while crying and confessing his love for him. He was a giant mess, and now that he thought about it, maybe Leon only had sex with him out of pitty. Other than that he was starting to feel a little remorseful for his behaviour the night before. He noticed that his phone had been placed on the bed stand and that he got a few messages from Nessa. They recently had been talking about fashion warehouse sales and she had asked him for the address a short while ago. He went to check his photos since he had taken a pic of the flyer, but was met with intimate pictures of Leon when he opened the app.  
“Shit… _Now_ I remember...”

“Feeling better?”  
Raihan reflexively shut off the screen of his phone and put it aside. Leon had already finished showering and making food. He brought a plate over to him with some toast.  
“Yeah… Thanks a lot.”  
He took the plate from him and stuffed his face. He didn’t realize how hungry he already was.  
“Leon, I’m really-”  
“I’m sorry, Raihan!”  
“Huh?”  
Raihan turned to him and was surprised to hear an apology from him instead after all he’s done for him. He had been rude since waking up and Leon went through all the trouble of cooking for him too. If anything he thought he should be the one apologizing for getting shitfaced the night before.  
“There’s… something I really need to tell you…”  
Raihan couldn’t imagine what it was he really needed to tell him. While he was swimming in his thoughts of what Leon might say next, whether it was turning him in for assault, reporting him to the workplace, to medical conditions and preparing himself for the worst, his actual response definitely gave him some relief.  
“You’re… champ one?”  
“Yeah…”  
“Tha… That’s all?”  
“Uhhh… yeah I guess…”  
“Oh okay.”  
Leon was surprised he took it so well, but he was obviously mistaken, as Raihan had just snapped back into reality.  
“WAIT YOU’RE CHAMP ONE?! WHAT THE HELL, LEON!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hanging out

“Come on, I said I was sorry!”  
“Ugh… if you were _really_ sorry, you would let me win!”  
“Haha, looks like it’s my win again!”  
They were both cuddling on the couch and playing on their switches.  
“I don’t get it, Raihan. How can you lose when you can see exactly what moves I’m going to pick?”  
“Tch… You’re not even taking this seriously! What kind of _monster_ uses King’s Rock with Hyper Beam!?”  
“I’m just experimenting… and anyway, you kept trying to finish off my pokemon with your shiny sucker punching Applin! You didn’t even EV train yet that so you’re not really taking it seriously either!”  
“Ahhh, whatever! Let’s do something else.”  
Raihan turned off his switch and placed it back in his bag. Leon also put his own away and sat back on the couch.  
“I’m so confused… you want to win against me but didn’t like it when you _did_ win against me…”  
“I only want to win by completely outplaying you! I’m not going to stop trying though, I just need a break right now!”  
Raihan pouted and turned away from him, feeling a bit embarrassed from getting so frustrated over losing so many casual battles.

“Well… what do you want to do now? Normally I’d be at the gym around this time. You up for that?”  
“N-No you can’t! Not with all those marks all over your body!”  
“I could just wear long sleeves…”  
“You always forget about your towel and wipe your sweat off with the front of your shirt letting everyone get a peek of your chest and abs, let’s not!”  
“...”  
“I mean here in Wyndon there’s nice stores all around so let’s go to a mall or something.”  
Leon agreed and went into his room to change. Raihan started checking his phone and finally replied to Nessa’s text. He started looking through his photos from last night again and still couldn’t believe he fucked his coworker but found it strange that Leon seemed okay with it. After he had told him he was champ1, all he could think about was settling the score once and for all and went straight to starting up some LAN battles. He noticed there were a few new videos too and clicked one to play.  
“Ohhh Raihan… like this?-”  
He had his volume set to the max. He immediately paused and closed it as Leon had just come out of his room.  
“Alright, I’m ready now. Let’s go!”  
He sighed in relief that he didn’t hear any of it.

…

“Hey this is a nice hoodie, I’m tempted to buy it…”  
“Oh if you’re buying that then I want to buy this hat. We’ll get a discount if we buy them together.”  
“Anything else you want? If not I’ll head to the counter.”  
“Nah, that’s all.”  
Leon was looking at the displays while Raihan was paying for their stuff. He looked back at the hoodie he just bought. Since he normally sees him in business casual, he was surprised to find out he liked these styles of clothing. The hoodie was pretty flashy as it was gold on the front, and the hood was large. It also had white triangles sticking out of the trim of the hood as if to resemble sharp teeth.  
“Are you going to wear that?”  
Leon asked as soon as Raihan walked back to him, handing him a separate bag that contained his hat.  
“Of course not, not with these work clothes.”  
“Awww, I wanted to see how you’d look in it. Anyway, how much should I e-transfer you?”  
Leon pulled out his phone ready to log into his bank account but Raihan put his hand over his phone.  
“It’s a gift.”  
“Huh, but…”  
“Please take it! It’s to make up for last night and- Oh wait maybe I should get you more things-”  
Leon’s face went red after hearing just the words “last night”.  
“Ahh… No that’s fine, I’ll take this, thanks!”

“Hey! What are you guys doing here!?”  
They were surprised to see Nessa running up to them. Sonia was also catching up behind her.  
“Don’t run so fast! Oh? Leon you’re here! And also Raihan.”  
Raihan turned around surprised to see them.  
“Oh, uhh… Hi. Actually why are _you_ here? The warehouse sale is in Motostoke.”  
“You only replied to my text after we arrived at Wyndon to do some shopping! Anyway, what do you have there?”  
Nessa was looking at the shopping bag he was holding.  
“Nothing much, just bought a new hoodie.”  
“Oh hey, just noticed you’re still in your work clothes from yesterday-”  
“What- Oh I just put on whatever was nearby and went out! A-Anyway, why don’t we all find a cafe and just chat and relax?”  
Raihan was starting to sweat but Leon just walked next to him, clearly looking amused from seeing him getting questioned.

The four went and found a nearby cafe to sit in. After ordering drinks, it was mostly Nessa and Raihan talking with each other while the other two listened in. Raihan also couldn’t help but notice how Sonia was looking at Leon.

“Hey Leon, you have a mark on your neck.”  
“Huh? Oh! It must have… been a bug bite!”  
“How did you get a bite like that? Is your apartment infested?”  
“N-no… I was uhh… jogging late at night last night! It was a real workout… I guess maybe I dunno, a wasp stung me or something I didn’t notice.”  
_Idiot…_ Raihan thought. Everyone knows wasps don’t fly around at night because they can’t see shit in the dark. But it was quite funny to see him put on the spot.  
“Well, if it itches, maybe I have something in my purse to help…”  
“Oh, no! It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt at all!”

“Pfft…”  
Raihan couldn’t help but let out a laugh.  
“You didn’t like, bite him or anything did you Raihan?”  
Nessa asked but Raihan immediately rebutted.  
“OF COURSE I DID NOT! H-HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT!”  
“Ch-chill out! It’s just a joke!”  
The two of them started arguing that Leon and Sonia had to tell them to calm down as they were making lots of noise and attracting attention.  
“Tch, can’t believe you’d think I’d just _assault_ my client and friend like that!”  
“Haha, come on. Don’t be so dramatic! Where are you guys headed after?”  
“We’re going to go check out some arcades and then head home, you?”  
“Ah, we still have some shopping to do, and then we might as well go to Motostoke for that sale. Guess we’ll see you around?”  
Nessa stood up and gathered her things. Sonia looked like she wanted to stay and chat for a little longer, but then got up to follow.  
“Yeah, later.”  
“See you on Monday, Leon!”  
Sonia waved goodbye to Leon and he did the same. Raihan couldn’t help but feel a little jealous about it. After the two girls left, he got up to sit across from Leon while he still had to finish up his drink.  
“She’s really pretty…”  
Raihan was thinking out loud while Sonia was walking away still in sight. _Wait… what if they were together?_ He sat up straighter and mustered up his courage to ask.  
“L-Leon… I didn’t make you… cheat or anythi-”  
“Haha, of course not!”  
“Really? I mean, she clearly likes you so it’s just hard to believe that…”  
Leon sighed and stared down at his tea.  
“She’s my childhood friend so we’re pretty close…”  
“Oh…”  
“Well, we did try dating, but it didn’t work out…”  
“Huh? Why not?”  
“I…”  
Leon was starting to look glum about it. The suspense was killing him.  
“???”  
“I… Ughh… She said I play video games too much and that I’m addicted! I really wanted to get to rank one in online battles so I had to put in all the extra time! I only let some dinners she made for me sit cold for a few hours but I guess that was a dealbreaker… I said it still tasted good even if it’s cold but I guess that wasn’t enough…”  
“Man, that’s harsh…”  
Raihan was feeling bad for Sonia but Leon thought that comment meant he was feeling bad for him and his eyes lit up.  
“I knew you’d understand, Raihan! You’re also a competitive player like me and we have a lot of interests in common… I think I’d rather date you! Or… I would if you feel the same way…”  
Leon looked flustered. Raihan was completely speechless and he was feeling a bit disheartened about that.  
“Oh uhh… I guess you don’t need to answer right now… but are you still up for going to the arcade?”

“...”  
“Yeah sure, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gamers r the most oppressed race


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gamble responsibly

“Oh!!! Almost!”  
“Ugghhh… maybe in another five tries…”  
The two of them stood before an arcade claw machine. Raihan had been trying to catch one of the Dragonite plush toys inside. By now he was far too invested to stop, and the Dragonite plush was close to the prize drop area. Every time the claw picked it up, it would let go just before the claw itself retracted back to the top. The plush would only move by a few millimeters. Needless to say, if he wasn’t lucky the first few tries then he was just getting scammed.  
“Hey Raihan, can I try it?”  
It had been a long while since Leon had tried catching a prize like this. He only remembered playing these machines back in highschool and going to arcades after school with Hop. They had never won a big prize and usually gave up after a few tries. He had been watching Raihan play for the past thirty minutes, and also helped him look for videos online of how other people won the same prize on his phone.  
“Yeah, here you go.”  
Raihan moved aside to let him play. Leon moved the claw back but wasn’t sure if it was in the right position. It was only when the claws moved apart that he noticed he may have moved it too far back.  
“Hey wait, Leon-”  
“Ahh! Sorry, Raihan! I think I wasted your try…”  
The claw moved down and latched onto a plush that was behind the Dragonite. To their surprise, lifting up that plush managed to push the Dragonite right against the edge of the prize drop hole. All of the plush toys in there were pretty much too heavy for the claw to grab it in one go, and the one it picked up dropped somewhere else and out of the way.  
“No, wait! Actually, this is perfect!”  
Leon moved aside and Raihan started the next try. This time he was able to scoop up the plush from behind and have it fall down into the prize box.  
“Yes! We did it! Thanks, Leon!”  
Raihan turned around to hug him. If he were to put any more money into the machine, he would have had to go to an ATM to get more banknotes. As soon as he saw Leon looking flustered, he let go and went to grab his prize from the bottom compartment of the machine.  
“Haha… congrats, Raihan! That was rather exciting!”  
Leon looked quite happy that he helped and he really couldn’t have done it without him. He passed him the Dragonite plush and took a picture of him on his cellphone to commemorate this event of not going into bankruptcy.  
“Let me grab a bag while you hold onto it. Do you want to try any other machines?”  
“Nah, but I’m kind of hungry though. Are you going to head home now or do you want to eat dinner together?”  
“Sure, let’s get dinner. I know a good place around here.”

…

Now that he thought about it, today was more of a date than anything. It felt more like he was hanging out with an old friend rather than a coworker. He didn’t need to be careful with the things he says, and Leon wasn’t one to talk much about work related subjects. Even so, he was still uneasy about dating him. His ex had been a coworker from his previous workplace, and he ended up quitting his job shortly after their break up. He didn’t want to go through all of that again with Leon if their relationship ended up going sour while they still had to work together at the office.  
“So, Raihan-”  
“Wait! I’m really not sure about that yet!”  
“Huh? Okay, maybe just a few more minutes with the menu…”  
“Oh! No, I’m ready! Sorry about that…”  
A waitress had come to ask for their order but Raihan hadn’t been paying attention. He quickly gave the waitress his order and decided to not order any alcohol this time.  
“Well, I’d like one beer.”  
“Hey that’s not fair.”  
“Then do you want one?”  
“No…”  
The waitress left with their orders and came back shortly with their drinks. Before Leon could take a sip, Raihan decided to let out his feelings and frustrations.  
“Leon… I do like you-”  
“I know.”  
“...”  
“Sorry… please continue…”  
Leon averted his eyes but he definitely did not look very apologetic. Raihan blushed and sighed, thinking back to his embarrassing state the night before.  
“... I do want to date you, but I’m also not sure. I mean we’re coworkers… what if someone finds out?”  
He most definitely didn’t want Nessa finding out. She was rather perceptive and seemed to gossip a lot with Sonia. Leon looked like he wasn’t as nervous about it as he was.  
“We’re still on different teams so it can’t be that bad… We can keep it a secret. I don’t think anyone would care if they were to find out after the project is over.”  
“You’re sounding very optimistic… Even I regret how I acted last night. I can’t believe that we’re still hanging out like this…”  
“To be honest, for the past month when we weren’t seeing each other as much I was thinking I also had feelings for you too. Last night I was pretty freaked out at first, but then you told me how much you liked me and I thought it was genuine… I mean you started crying and-”  
“Okay, stop...! Please don’t remind me!”  
“Let’s have a toast. Here’s to the start of ‘us’. Hopefully this will last longer than a week.”  
After clanging his glass with Leon’s, he took a sip of his water while Leon chugged his entire beer down.  
“Longer than a week? Aren’t your expectations a little low?”  
Leon asked for another refill before answering him.  
“That’s how long I dated Sonia for.”  
“Wow, what did I get myself into?”

…

After dinner, Leon decided to walk with Raihan back to the station since it was closeby. It was a lot more crowded than usual, which meant there had to have been some problems. There were delays for the train Raihan had to take, and it seemed like there was going to be a shuttle bus service as there was no estimated time for the next train to come.  
“Looks like I’m going to be here for a while.”  
To wait for the bus, he still had to pass through the gates. He rummaged through his pocket for his train pass, but couldn’t find it. Checking a few more pockets, and then his bags, it was nowhere to be found.  
“Crap… I think I dropped my pass somewhere…”  
“We walked all day today… where do you normally keep it?”  
“It’s usually in my pants pocket…”

Leon was watching Raihan check all his pockets and bags once more, but then he remembered something. He opened his wallet, and found his own train pass in there, when he thought it should have been at home.  
“Oh actually, I think it’s back in my room... I found a train pass lying on the floor but thought it was mine. That one was probably yours.”  
“I see. I can just buy a pass for today and you can bring it to me on Monday?”  
“You’ll be waiting here for a while. Let’s just go back to my place and get it.”  
Leon took his hand and they walked past the crowds of people waiting for the next bus. He let go once they were in an emptier space.

The one thing Raihan really wanted to do was sit down and take a rest. His legs were hurting from walking the entire day, but Leon seemed more energetic than tired. Once they made it back to Leon’s unit, he told him he’ll just wait outside the door for him to give him back his train pass. When Leon came back to his door, he hesitated to hand over his train pass he was holding on to.  
“You know… You can stay over if you like.”  
He had already unbuttoned halfway the shirt he was wearing, and the hickeys on his neck and chest were in plain view. His hand that was holding onto the train pass was now also pulling onto his own shirt, revealing the faint outline of a healing bite mark.  
“Just… try not to do this. I don’t want to skip another gym day.”  
Raihan looked away and held out this hand for his train pass.

…

When he woke up the next morning in bed hugging his new Dragonite plush, he grabbed his phone to check the time, and to also open up the Pokemon Masters game app. While he waited for the new update to download, he placed his arm around Leon, who was laying on his chest and already tapping away on his phone.  
“What’s in the new update?”  
He asked. Leon held up his phone for him to get a better look.  
“There’s a new legendary arena. You’ll do more damage to Cobalion with sleep or burn.”  
“Great, I can use Torkoal in this one.”  
Raihan picked up his phone again. The update had finished downloading, but he closed his app to open the camera. He smiled and took a selfie.  
“Hey! We’re not wearing clothes, you better delete that!”  
“Aww come on, only our faces are in the picture.  
“You also better delete the others you took!”  
“W-wait… at least let me watch them first!”  
“No!!!”  
“Alright fine…”  
He passed his phone to Leon to let him delete them. At least he could always recover them through his cloud drive backup. It took Leon a while to finish deleting them, but once he was done he passed his phone back to him.  
“Hmph! Don’t think that I know nothing about tech stuff just because I work on the business side. I deleted your cloud backup just in case.”  
“Crap… wait, you didn’t delete the selfie I just took.”  
“I’ll let you keep that one but you better make sure no one ever sees it!”  
“Awww, thanks.”  
He moved Leon’s bangs aside and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Leon went back to playing on his phone while he did the same to complete the daily missions. While putting his farming team on auto-mode, he thought about what happened after getting his train pass back from Leon. He could have just gone home, but there was no way he could decline Leon’s invitation, especially after that attempt at seducing him. And so, he fucked his coworker again but at least this time he was also his new boyfriend.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> apple onslaught

The following week, Raihan started spending more time with Leon on their breaks and after work. He had taken a short break from streaming daily, but was still actively trying to reach a higher rank in online battles. Since it was Friday again, he decided to start his stream as soon as he got home after eating dinner. He had wanted to hang out with Leon, but Leon had to hurry back to his hometown to eat dinner with his friends and family.

After putting on his headset and adjusting his webcam, he started talking as soon as a few more people hopped in to watch his stream.  
“Hey guys, I’m back from a short break. I'm still climbing ranks so don’t think that I haven’t been productive! Check this out, I’m now in the top one hundred!”  
He showed the game screen to his viewers. They started congratulating him and asked if he was going to stream more ranked battles today.  
“I kind of feel like relaxing today. Let’s just test out some new teams and move sets. I set up a few that should be pretty entertaining. Going to leave the pokemon I’m using as a surprise, but let’s queue up~!”  
While waiting for a match up, he received a direct message from one of his viewers.

_  
charmander1: hey it’s me  
thegreatraihan241: lol hey  
charmander1: lol this is leon  
_

Although his stream wasn’t showing who he was typing to, it was clear to his viewers he was typing to someone while waiting for an online battle. They could see him scratch his head and also blush a bit as he read the message. The other viewers were now curious who he was talking to or what he had seen.

_  
thegreatraihan241: seriously??? dammit leon!  
charmander1: hehe  
thegreatraihan241 is typing...  
_

While he was typing out a longer whiny message to Leon asking why he didn’t tell him sooner, he had found a matchup. He turned his attention back to the game and decided to deal with Leon later. All his attention was now focused on beating this poor scrub that had the misfortune of dealing with his full team of sucker-punching Applins…

…

Leon had to catch an earlier train back to Postwick to help his mother prep for a barbeque dinner they’ll be having. It wasn’t for any particular special occasion, but they usually have one every summer where they invite the neighbours and Sonia’s family. Leon had wanted to invite Raihan, but decided against it after hearing Sonia had invited Nessa. He wasn’t too confident he’d be able to hide that he was in a relationship with Raihan. When they were together, they were pretty handsy with each other and it would be a problem if he forgot to keep their distance. Raihan had told him beforehand that he would probably stream today and he wasn’t about to miss it. He made sure to get all the outdoor tables and dinnerware set up quickly.

“Hey Lee, need some help?”  
Hop had just come back from Gloria’s house. Now that it was summer break, they had been hanging out almost every day.  
“Nah, I’m fine. Go make sure your girlfriend doesn’t get too bored waiting for the food to cook~”  
“Damn it, Lee! I told you she’s not my-”  
“Hey Hop, let’s just wait over here until it’s all ready.”  
Gloria had tugged on his shirt. She was clearly not exactly paying attention but was also unfazed by Leon constantly teasing them. There was then a notification on her phone and after reading it she looked up to Leon in excitement.  
“Hey, it looks like The Great Raihan will be streaming today! Let’s all watch it together! He posted that today would be a special casual stream.”  
“Yeah sure, you guys let me know when it starts since I’ll be helping out with the cooking.”

While Hop and Gloria waited outside, Leon went back in to bring the food out. As he was pouring some juice for them, Sonia and Nessa finally arrived. They were out of their work clothes and in something more casual. It looked like they had gotten their hair and makeup redone, but that only meant Nessa was probably trying to set something up again.

“Hey there, Leon! How do we look?”  
She struck a pose and Sonia shyly did the same. He determined the safest course of action was to just compliment them. The last time something similar happened, they didn’t like his reaction at all, but then again they also barged in on him and woke him up from his desk when he had fallen asleep while reading a book. He had looked up, yawned, and then went back to lying face down on the desk trying to get back to sleep.  
“You both look beautiful as always!”  
“Huh? That’s it? You should be more observant! Sonia even did her nails. I think purple really suits her!”  
Leon took a closer look and noticed her nails were repainted to have mixed purple and her usual turquoise patterns. She had also worn a matching outfit with the same colour scheme.  
“Looks great, matches your outfit too!”  
“Ahhh… thanks!”  
Sonia was blushing and averted her eyes. He wasn’t too great at flattering people as it started feeling a bit awkward. A while ago he had learned from Hop that both Nessa and Sonia had been asking him what he was up to as of late, ever since he had started occupying less of his time on the switch now that he already achieved top ten in ranking. It was rather hard getting Hop to spill on why they kept asking him these sorts of questions. He had to buy him an imported Wooloo as well as a Zamazenta plush for his cooperation. As much as he wanted to say he was already dating someone else, it would be troublesome if they kept bothering him to tell them who they were. Until everyone had their fill of food, he acted like a good host and took a break once Raihan started streaming.

While he was cooking up another skewer on the grill, Gloria and Hop stopped by to tell him the stream was starting soon and they were going to watch it in Hop’s room.  
“Alright, I’ll be there in a sec.”  
After eating his last snack for the day, he put down the grill lid, took off his apron and went upstairs for a break.

Leon went to grab his laptop from his room before walking over to Hop’s. They were both sitting on the floor watching it on Hop’s TV and he joined them. He placed his laptop on his lap and also opened Raihan’s stream to send him a direct message. Even when he didn’t know it was him, he was happy that Raihan had always responded to him quickly on his charmander1 account.

“Hey what are you guys doing? Wha- is that Raihan!?”  
Nessa and popped into Hop’s room with Sonia right behind her. They both also sat down and stared at the TV.  
“Wow, he’s actually pretty popular. He even has a little fan club right here!”  
Nessa glanced over to them and all their attention was fixated on Raihan’s strange pokemon team.  
Hop pointed at the screen. “The hell? They’re all Applins! Hahaha, this is gonna be interesting!”  
“There’s no way he’s going to win! This isn’t a ranked match right?”  
Nessa had asked. She also played but not as often as Leon. It was only because Milo bought the game that she decided to try it out. They also had a rivalry with each other and Milo had a higher win streak battling against her. She still hasn’t given up on trying to balance their scores.  
“Nope, this is just a casual battle. Oh! His first pokemon is that shiny Applin! … Huh? What’s up with that nickname?”

Raihan had nicknamed his pokemon ‘LIsCute’. Leon had a feeling he knew what ‘L’ stood for but he decided to message Raihan and tease him.

_  
charmander1: what does the L stand for? Losing?  
thegreatraihan241: very funny, did i tell u ur very cute  
charmander1: <333  
_

He had to hold in a laugh after reading his reply. Nessa noticed him typing away on his laptop and then saw that he was typing on Raihan’s stream.  
“Let’s ask him what the ‘L’ stands for, I’m so curious…!”  
Leon immediately closed his chat with Raihan as Nessa leaned in to watch him ask.  
“Haha… alright.”  
He started typing out the question on the stream chat. A lot of other people had asked but he didn’t respond yet. Maybe he would respond if he asked.

_  
charmander1: yeah come on, tell us what the ‘L’ stands for!  
_

Raihan looked over to the chat again after he picked his next move. On his end that he could see only, he updated his chat settings so that Leon’s messages would be highlighted and less easy for him to miss. Leon was actually a little nervous about Raihan answering.

“Ah crap! I don’t want my shiny Applin to die, gonna swap out for now and save the sucker-punch PP.”  
After switching to another Applin, he decided to humor his viewers.  
“Alright, now that my prized Applin is safe, I’ll tell you guys. The ‘L’ stands for lover…”

Leon was relieved he didn’t say his name, but his chat was going wild with heart emojis, more questions, and some throwing-up emojis after hearing this cringey revelation.

“Guys you’re hurting my feelings! You also asked for it too! Ack! Nooooo not my regular Applin~~”

The Applin he sent had just fainted from an ice beam after his opponent swapped out for Lapras. His opponent seemed a little ‘tryhard’, but it didn’t matter. He decided to lose gracefully and move on to the next set up he had prepared. This time he was going to try for a shiny Applin sweep with different pokemon to set up buffs.

“Alright guys! Let’s see if we can get this in one try! I think I’ll have Gigalith out first to set up Stealth Rock and then…”

Raihan went to describe his strategy for the next battle while waiting for an opponent.

...

“You two have been pretty close lately, maybe you should have invited him, Leon!”  
Sonia poked his side. He was regretting the decision but he could always arrange for another barbeque after their project finished. He could even invite both teams.  
“We can do this again. You know, celebrate after our project is a big success~”  
“Haha… already putting the pressure huh?”  
Nessa wasn’t too pleased talking about work after work hours but the project success also largely depends on the guy they’re all watching right now. Since she had taken some pictures during dinner earlier and was going to post on social media anyways, she wanted to take another photo of them watching Raihan’s stream. They were already following each other so Raihan would see them later anyway.  
Nessa had just taken out her phone and leaned towards Sonia who was sitting next to Leon.  
“Alright, let’s take a picture together and send it to him! We can tell him he’s invited next time.”  
“Ahhh…”  
Leon was a bit startled by the idea but the flash had gone off.  
“Opps, wrong setting, let’s redo that. Try to smile in this one, Leon!”  
This time they all crowded around with the TV playing the stream in the background. They were able to capture everyone, including Hop and Gloria in the photo and it turned out nicely.  
“And… posted!”  
Nessa exclaimed, after editing the photo just a tiny bit. The others pulled out their phones to check as well and to give it a like. Leon hesitated a bit but clicked like. He hoped Raihan wouldn’t be too angry at him for not inviting him.

…

The stream went on for another hour before Raihan decided to close it. Both Nessa and Sonia left before it ended and only Gloria was still there since she lived next door.  
“Alright it’s getting late. I’m heading back to my room. Walk your girlfriend home safely Hop~”  
“Ugggghhhhh, whatever!”  
Hop groaned as his brother just made the atmosphere more awkward than it needed to be. Once he was back in his room, he checked his messages and noticed Raihan had sent him a few. Instead of replying, he decided to call him instead after closing the door for some privacy.

“Hey Lover.”  
“Hi Raihan… Haha, what nickname should I give you?”  
“Whatever you like.”  
“Okay, Rai then. I’m not as creative as you.”  
“Did you have fun?”  
“Hmmm?”  
Leon thought Raihan must have seen the pictures. He wondered if he was jealous of the ones where Sonia was right next to him. There were a number of those thanks to Nessa.  
“The barbeque. Looked tasty. Better than the fast food I had.”  
“Haha, you’re invited next time if the project is a success, I promise!”  
“Making me work for it, huh?”  
Raihan was sounding a little bit depressed but he was probably just trying to sound sad and neglected. He wasn’t sure if Raihan was too shy to bring up the subject with all those pictures of himself and Sonia.  
“... Do you think we should tell them?”  
“Tell them what?”  
“That we’re dating.”  
“N-no… we agreed after the project right?”  
“I guess…”  
Leon was finding it hard to bring up how he felt today. He was definitely sure Nessa was trying to get him to date Sonia again but he felt bad he couldn’t tell them he wasn’t single anymore. He decided to be honest with Raihan as he did want their relationship to last longer.  
“... Nessa’s kind of trying to get me to date Sonia again. I just really wish I could tell them I was dating you already.”  
“AHHHH!”  
That wasn’t exactly the reaction he expected and it in fact startled him a bit. He thought Raihan must have been really happy hearing that.  
“Ahhhh... I mean I wanted to type out your name in the chat too but then they’ll start asking who you are. Then again if I did, you won’t be having this issue. Haha… I’m sure Nessa would kill me though.”  
“I’m okay with that… just kidding.”  
“So cruel.”

After agreeing that they should still do their best at keeping it a secret, they started chatting about other random stuff. Leon opened the social media app and finally set a picture of himself.  
“I took a picture of myself wearing the hat you bought me.”  
“Let me see.”  
“It’s on my profile picture.”  
“Huh? Didn’t know you had an account… Oh wait, found you on the list of people who liked Nessa’s pics… You’re already following me? Damn it, Leon! You should have told me this was your account!”  
“I didn’t use it that much until I started following you…”  
“You can be quite the stalker huh? Now tell me what other accounts you’re hiding so I can add you on those platforms.”  
“Haha, who's the stalker now? I only use the stream account and this one for real though.”  
“Hmmm… alright, I also changed my profile pic now.”  
“Let me see…”  
Raihan had changed it to a selfie of him wearing the hoodie he had bought along with his present.  
“Now we’re matching.”  
“Matching profile pics… what if they find out?”  
“They can’t find out from this, they don’t even know I bought that hat for you or how my hoodie really looked like.”

After chatting a little longer, Leon was getting tired and decided to go to sleep.  
“Fwaaah… Okay good night Rai… I’m exhausted.”  
“Night. Sweet dreams.”  
Leon placed his phone down and pulled up his blanket. As he was drifting off to sleep, he had been thinking a bit about how to endure the time left for the project completion. There should be about six weeks for the next phase, and another three weeks to integrate everything and do one final test run.  
“Nine weeks...”  
He mumbled. He wondered if their relationship would even last that long.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oh no

“Hey Raihan, I found one more defect from your last change.”  
Milo had dropped by Raihan’s desk on his way back from making a cup of tea in the kitchen. Raihan was now spending most of his time fixing bugs since the deadline to have the first phase of the project ready was the end of the current week.  
“Ugggghhh, really? Alright I’ll go check the logs.”  
“The rest of it is all fixed, so good work!”  
He went back to his desk. Raihan was feeling happy and a little embarrassed by the praise. Most of the bugs were just careless mistakes on his end where he forgot to comment out some hard coded lines he used for quick testing purposes. Once Milo was back and seated at his desk, Nessa swivelled her chair to face Raihan.  
“You should at least test it before you hand it off to Milo.”  
Raihan sighed. He was doing his best and he was honestly grateful to have a QA like Milo. Milo had some technical knowledge and worked pretty fast, but he will admit he was kind of taking advantage of that. He looked over to her and only noticed how keen she was to defend him.  
“What?”  
Nessa noticed him staring and also his mouth curving into a bit of a smile.  
“You like him, don’t you?“  
“Wha- S-shut up and get back to work!”  
“Okay~”  
Raihan got back to work as he wanted to anyway. There were a few minor bugs Leon reported that he wanted to fix right away, and every time he did he would write cheesy messages to Leon telling him he fixed it just for him. Leon didn’t seem to mind and sometimes did the same. He just hoped that no one would ever review their silly conversations.

…

Leon was typing away at his desk. He had been testing the reports generated from the new app and looking them over for any mistakes. Now that the month-end was over, he could focus on testing and relax a little bit. He finally had the time to take out his phone in the middle of work and play his games a bit. At first he wasn’t too happy about the stamina bar addition to the game, but he could at least use skip-tickets when he didn’t have the time to play.

“Ughhh! Finally done looking over these statements…”  
Sonia was finally able to push the stack of papers aside that Oleana had handed her this morning. She was more of an assistant for Oleana while Leon was tasked to deal with the IT team. Checking the time, it was already noon. She then got up from her seat to peer over to Leon’s desk.  
“Leon, want to go get lunch?”  
Leon was still sitting at his desk tapping away on his phone.

“Yeah sure, let me invite Raihan.”  
Putting his phone down, he pulled his chair in closer to the desk and started typing to Raihan. There was one more bug that Raihan was trying to fix and he was telling him it should be ready for testing again in a few minutes.

_Leon: Hey let’s take a break. Want to go grab lunch?  
Raihan: Sure, just deploying it now. It’ll be up and running once we get back.  
Leon: Alright, meet you at the lobby_

…

“What are you doing here?”  
Nessa asked, as she went to stand and lean against the wall next to Raihan who was checking his phone.  
“Just waiting for someone.”  
“Hmmm? Are you waiting for your ‘lover’? When are you going to show me how she looks? I checked all your uploaded pics and couldn’t find anything!”  
“Whoa, there’s no one of that sort… it was just a joke!”  
“Yeah right, you said you have one on your stream! Actually, if you are waiting for her, I just need to stick around to find out right?”

Raihan already had a number of selfies with Leon on his page but in those they probably looked like best buds rather than lovers. While trying to deflect all her questions, Leon had finally made it down to the lobby.

“Hi! Sorry about that, we ran into Oleana at the elevators and had to walk back to our desks since she had something to tell us. Anyway, where do you want to go?”  
Thinking that Leon was going to be his saviour from dealing with Nessa, he put his arm around his shoulder.  
“A new place just opened nearby so let’s go there. Alright girls, see ya later.”  
“Hey wait, they’re coming with us!”  
“What? Why???”  
Leon had failed to mention earlier that both Sonia and Nessa were coming with them. Nessa didn’t know either, but walked up to Raihan and pulled him away from Leon.  
“Alright, show us where this new restaurant is! Don’t think that you can get away from answering my questions!”

…

After eating, they went to a nearby food court to chat a bit. The conversation shifted to Raihan and who his mysterious ‘lover’ was.  
“Come on, just tell us what her name is.”  
“No way.”  
Nessa and Sonia were still pestering him for more details. Leon didn’t know what to do about it but he was also curious how Raihan would answer.  
“What do you like about her?”  
Sonia asked. He wouldn’t answer any questions related to ‘her’ appearance. Raihan hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation since he was thinking about Leon who was sitting across right from him. He had originally wanted to get him to help him roll for the new summer units but that was going to have to wait. It had also been a while since they had sex. Two days to be exact. Nessa playfully jabbed his side, told him to stop thinking about ‘her’ and repeated the question.  
“Hmmm… she has a nice body.”  
Hoping that Sonia and Nessa would just call him crude and be done with it, he was surely mistaken.

“I can’t believe you’re like this!”  
“What does she like about _you_?”  
He looked over to Leon, hoping that he’d help him out but Leon didn’t seem too happy about him only answering that he liked him for his body.  
“I’m just kidding, she’s smart and cute too!”  
He wanted to give Leon a light tap with his foot to reassure him he was just joking around, but then his foot hit something else instead.  
“Ah!”  
Sonia yelped. He had accidentally kicked her.  
“Oh, I’m sorry! Just wanted to stretch my legs a bit.”  
 _Why was her foot there!?_ Looking over to Leon, he noticed he was trying his best to hold in his laughter. At least he didn’t look sulky anymore.  
“Maybe she only likes you because you’re tall.”  
“Come on… that can’t be it. I have lots of other good qualities.”  
Afterall, it was obvious Leon can’t like him because of his genes. If their relationship lasted long enough, his bloodline would end with him.

“It’s been an hour now, so let’s head back. I have another meeting I need to be in in half an hour, and I still need to prepare some printouts.”  
Nessa got up from her seat but they all decided it was time to head back to the office. On the way, Leon had stopped to buy another coffee while Nessa and Sonia went to the elevators first. Raihan stayed behind to wait for him and immediately put his arm around him and leaned in as soon as they were out of sight.  
“Ahhh… I want to stay over tonight…”  
“Sure. Only if that last bug gets fixed.”  
“Shit… fine let me test it first…”  
As usual, he was lazy and only looked over the code instead of taking a few more minutes to generate a report and test. Not wanting to waste more time and the fact that he was going to be in the same meeting as Nessa that was going to start soon, he gave Leon a quick peck on the cheek and went back to the office.

“Hmmm, I never would have thought it would be like this.”  
Leon heard a familiar voice and turned around, only to see his nightmare in flesh that was his boss. He didn’t know how long she had been standing there but they also had not been exactly whispering their conversation a few seconds ago.  
“O-Oleana… good afternoon.”  
Oleana smiled and crossed her arms.  
“The new developer has been working quite hard, hasn’t he? Perhaps I should give Melony a good word about him. We might finally have a project delivered on time by their team.”  
Leon was getting nervous but his coffee was finally ready for him to pick up.  
“Haha… maybe you should… I’ll see you later.”  
Leon wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He cursed under his breath that the first person to find out he was dating a coworker was none other than his boss.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> damn it's been a month

Raihan knocked on the door. To his surprise, the door almost immediately opened. Although it was a tiring day, he felt a little bit more energetic just from seeing his lover right in front of him. Leon was already out of his work clothes and wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.  
“Hey, sorry about that, getting here later than usual.”

When he made it back to his desk, he went straight to continuing his testing and fixing up the rest of the defects. He had been extremely productive and only messaged Leon to let him know when he could check if the bugs were fixed. They managed to finalize everything before business hours were over, but he decided to stay in office and work a little longer since he planned to go to Leon’s place afterwards. He ended up losing track of time, but got more planning done for the next phase of the project and only remembered to leave once Leon called him on his phone.

Leon smiled and said that it was ‘fine’ but Raihan couldn’t help but feel that he seemed out of it as he averted his gaze from him right after.  
“Uhh… Sorry for making you wait.”  
Leon immediately grabbed him by the collar. He was startled by his sudden forcefulness as he was pulled closer to his face.  
“Raihan… Kiss me.”  
He wrapped his arms around him and pressed his lips against his.  
“Nnnn… Raihan… mmmph.. I missed you…”  
“Aaaah… I missed you too… Mmm… Leon…”  
Raihan had him pushed against the wall in the narrow doorway. Leon was gripping onto his coat as they were making out, refusing to let him escape even though he had no plans to. As they finally released each other from their mouths to catch their breath, Leon knelt down trying to unzip Raihan’s dress pants.  
“I want you, Rai…”  
Before Raihan could say anything, Leon had already undid his belt and was about to pull down his underwear. As much as he was in the mood for it, normally Leon would ask him to shower first before he lets him put his bare privates on him.  
“Hold on… Shouldn’t we shower first? Or even move to your room...”  
Leon now had him with his back pressed against the door. As he pulled down his boxers his cock sprung up, shamelessly erect. There was always one thing Leon usually did after having his dick revealed and that was staring in a way that looked like he was marveling at his size and shape for a few seconds too long. Kind of the same way he felt when he looks at him doing squats at the gym. Instead of hesitating like he normally would, Leon wrapped his hand around his penis.  
“I don’t think you can wait either. You’re already like this…”  
“...”  
Leon licked him from the base of his cock to his frenulum, tracing along his shaft with his tongue. As he was being coated with more saliva mixed with his precum, Leon started stroking his shaft and finally let his tip into his mouth.  
“Ahhh… Leon…”  
He never thought that the moment he stepped into Leon’s condo, he’d have his dick fervently sucked on. Right after business hours, Melony had dropped by his desk to tell him that Oleana had sent her an email telling her that he had been working quite hard and the results showed. He was already feeling pretty great after being praised by someone as hard to please as her and having his cum sucked right out of his dick, he felt like it was almost a crime to feel so much pleasure in one day. Lately he has been pushing himself to focus and work more efficiently but he usually spent maybe an hour or two actually writing code and the rest of the time went into execution and testing. And of course, during the time while waiting for his code to run, he's on his phone either playing games or browsing shopping sites.  
“L-Leon… I’m going to come!”  
Raihan couldn’t pull away as he was already pushed against the wall with Leon holding his hips in place. He couldn’t hold it in and came in his mouth but Leon still didn’t let him go until he cleaned off all his sperm with his tongue and swallowed it all down.  
“Leon…”  
“Ahh… Raihan… why don’t you go shower first? I… I need to clean up this area…”  
Now he was acting a little shy and embarrassed, completely different from what he was just mere seconds ago. He had also ejaculated and got the floor dirty and already reached for a rag nearby to wipe it up.  
“Alright…”  
Raihan also felt like he had to take a moment to process what just happened. He went into Leon’s room to grab some of his own clothes he brought over previously to change into and then went straight to the bathroom.

…

As soon as he stepped back into the living room, there was a plate of food for him on the short table in front of the sofa. Leon had been sitting there waiting for him while watching a TV show.  
“Sorry, I only have leftover pizza. Do you want to order takeout instead?”  
“Leftovers are fine.”  
He plopped right down onto the seat right next to him and kissed his cheek before stuffing his face with soggy microwaved pizza. His attention then shifted to the TV, curious to see what he had been doing while waiting for him to finish showering.  
“Hmmm? Pokemon Mystery Dungeon? That game already came out a while ago.”  
“Yeah, but I only bought it recently.”  
It looked like Leon had finished only a few of the quests in the beginning. The pokemon he picked for himself was Charmander, and it looked like his starting partner pokemon was Skitty.  
“So how do you like this game? Hey wait… Why did you name the Skitty ‘Raihan’!? You should have at least picked a cooler looking pokemon!”  
“Haha, well it’s too late now.”  
Since he finished eating, he went to wash his hands to put the plate in the sink. Coming back to sit down again, Leon leaned on him and passed him the controller.  
“I want a break, help me get through this one.”  
Raihan took the controller and started playing the game for him as Leon rested his head on his shoulder.  
“Hey Leon…”  
“Hmmm?”  
“Your boss praised me today. You should do the same. Well actually, I guess I did get something better than praise.”  
“Haha… that’s good. I haven’t seen her do that before.”

~

After Oleana had seen Raihan hug and kiss him, Leon felt extremely uncomfortable and couldn’t even meet her gaze when she was speaking to him. Oleana however didn’t seem to care at all but it didn’t make him feel any better about getting caught already. Although Sonia only heard the rumor of why the previous dev left, Leon knew exactly why he was let go. One particular day after work, he was requested to work overtime to finish up month-end reporting. He had stepped away from his desk for a few hours and took his laptop to the kitchen area so he’d be closer to the water cooler whenever he needed to refill his water bottle. On his way back, he saw the previous developer talking to another member of his team previously. They probably thought nobody else was on the floor since usually most of them would have left by four p.m. It was quite late and even the cleaners were done with their shifts.  
Instead of walking in on them, he was curious and decided to eavesdrop but then things took a strange and drastic turn. They started making out right on top of Oleana’s desk all while stripping off each other’s clothes. In minutes, they were pretty much treating his boss’s desk like some bed at a cheap motel.  
Leon was speechless and didn’t know what to do. He could hear them loudly moaning meters away from where he was standing. He was sure that if he was in the kitchen area, he’d be able to hear them too and couldn’t believe how bold they were and wondered if this was even their first time doing something like that in the office. He covered his mouth and tried to slowly creep away in case they saw him but then to his surprise, he ran into Oleana once he stepped into the other hallway.  
Oleana was clearly pissed off as her face was as red as her dress, and he hasn’t seen her this mad ever.  
“What the hell is going on here!?”  
She hoarsely whispered. Leon was feeling intimidated just from looking at her but nervously pointed to the direction of their desks.  
“It’s the dev and well… you know...”  
“I can’t believe them! This is extremely disgusting and unprofessional! Please go in there and make them stop!”  
“What-”  
Oleana had even grabbed onto his wrist and they both walked closer and peaked over the wall.  
“My goodness! On _my_ desk!?”  
“Shhhh!”  
The two were still at it and didn’t notice them although probably because they were still whispering and trying to keep their noise levels to a minimum as they moved in closer. Once Oleana managed to take a photo of them just close enough to identify them both, she patted Leon’s shoulder.  
“Alright, go in there and stop them!”  
“What? Shouldn’t we call... security or something?”  
“I don’t have their number on hand. I’ll be reporting this to HR tomorrow anyway, so let’s not get any more people needed involved before there’s a bunch of rumors circling the office the next day.”  
“O-Okay… I’ll try…”  
Leon had no idea how he was going to pull this off but he got up and calmly walked closer, standing across from them behind a cubicle so he didn’t have to actually see their private parts. Never did he imagine he would be in a situation where his boss gave him an order to cock-block his coworkers.  
“Hey! The hell are you guys doing!? You’re not the only ones still in office and couldn’t you guys book a hotel or something!?”  
They two had stopped for a moment, startled by his presence. Strangely, after finding out it was just him, they continued having sex, and the sound of meat slapping against another resumed.  
“Ohhh… Forget that, how about you join us, Leon? I’ve always thought you were pretty hot. There’s lots of room here on Oleana’s desk-”  
As soon she said that between moans, Oleana appeared from her hiding spot and started yelling at them. The two of them stopped banging each other pretty quickly and started covering up and putting their clothes back on. Leon could only stand there, mouth hanging agape as his boss shouted them down until they felt the need to flee the floor through the emergency fire exit stairs. Leon stayed with Oleana in the office until she sent an email to HR using his computer as she didn’t want to be anywhere near hers. She had told him there will be cleaners coming in to have the area cleaned and disinfected by tomorrow morning.  
The following morning, both employees didn’t show up since they were promptly let go for inappropriate behaviour. Oleana gave a vague reason to the rest of her team and told Leon to keep quiet about it as no one really needed to know. They never found another replacement for the accountant yet but Sonia was able to pick up the remaining work without any issues. After the incident, Raihan was hired a few days later as a contractor to take up the work for the upcoming project. Oleana decided to have Leon handle the communications this time, and he thought that maybe she was trying to avoid another incident, thinking that the likelihood of two male coworkers getting romantically involved with each other was extremely slim. Thinking back, it really was quite ironic how things turned out now. They got rid of one workplace romance for another. Still, he would prefer to keep his relationship a secret just to avoid any inconveniences, but at least he wasn’t going to be stupid enough to have sex at the office. Oleana was only fine with it for now because they kept giving her results to show.

~

“Hey, is something wrong?”  
Raihan had seen the troubled look on his face. Leon sighed, unsure where to begin. Technically, it was all Raihan’s fault and thinking about that coffee run, his face reddened in embarrassment recalling the memory of Oleana talking to him about it. He turned to him and buried his face in his chest.  
“Ughhhh! Why did you have to cling and kiss me in public!?”  
“Huh?”  
Leon lifted his head and frowned at him.  
“Oleana saw you kiss me! She knows we’re dating!”  
“Damn, really?”  
“Yes, really.”  
“And… you didn’t deny it?”  
“I was completely speechless.”  
“Ah…”  
Raihan looked like he was deep in thought but then his mouth curved into a playful smile, making Leon feel even more frustrated with him.  
“Don’t worry babe, I’m sure everything will be alright.”  
Raihan reassured him, and then gave him another kiss on the cheek and hugged him tightly.  
“H-Hey! Stop that!”  
Leon was trying to stop him from showering him with kisses. Raihan thought it was kind of cute how he was acting.  
“Aww, if I can’t sneak one in public then let me do this all I want when we’re in private.”  
“Nnnn…”  
Leon stopped resisting and let him snuggle him on the couch.  
“Look, I’m sure your boss is not going to walk around the office telling everyone that we’re dating. She has no reason to. Plus I think she’s quite happy having me around if she sent that email to Melony.”  
“...Fine.”  
Leon let out another sigh and hugged him. Raihan started stroking his back and hair.  
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll continue working hard so just keep rewarding me for it like you did today.”  
Leon’s face reddened upon being reminded of it. He pulled away and retreated back to his room.  
“H-hey wait!”  
Raihan got up to chase after him, only to have the door shut in his face. Just as he was about to open his mouth to whine about it, Leon opened the door again slightly, his face completely flushed.  
“Don’t get too used to it… okay?”  
Leon reached for his hand and led him towards the bed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> break time

It was already the end of the work week, and it was just as Raihan had said. There was nothing to worry about and Leon was already feeling less awkward around Oleana. Now that the next phase of the project has started, it was less busy for him, and he found himself without much work to do. He had already asked Oleana earlier if she had anything new for him to work on, and all she could say to him was just “enjoy it while it lasts.” Feeling a bit restless and noticing that Oleana wasn’t at her desk, he decided to go downstairs for another walk. He got up from his chair and peered over to Sonia’s desk.  
“Hey, do you want anything from the cafe?”  
Sonia was typing away on her computer, looking rather envious at how unoccupied he was.  
“This is your third time going downstairs within two hours already! If you want something to do, you can help me with these inquiries…”  
“Haha, alright I will, but after I come back so do you want anything?”  
“Just a small coffee then.”  
“I’ll be right back.”

Leon made his way down to the food court once again and stood in the lineup for the cafe. There were five others in front of him so he decided to take out his cellphone and check his messages while waiting. He could hear the sound of heels clicking behind him, but paid no mind, until he heard the voice they belonged to.  
“Seems like you still haven’t found anything to do.”  
Oleana stood behind him in line. As soon as he saw her aftering turning around, he quickly shoved his cellphone back into his pocket.  
“Oh! Hey boss, I was just grabbing something for Sonia and myself. I’ll be helping her out with her tasks once I get back.”  
“Hmph, while you don’t have anything assigned, you could always fill up your self-evaluation forms. It's coming up again so don’t leave it last minute like you usually do.”  
“Ahh… okay.”  
She crossed her arms, looking unimpressed at his halfhearted response.  
“Hmph, to think that you were the type to use these sorts of measures to get this project done. Well, I guess I should have seen it coming.”  
Leon stayed silent and thought her comment was uncalled for. He had never tried to seduce anyone to get work done for him throughout his entire career, and he was dating Raihan because he genuinely likes him. Thinking it was strange that Oleana “should have seen it coming” he couldn’t understand why she might have felt that way. In the midst of going through his memories of how he treated other coworkers, he then remembered an incident that should have been long forgotten.  
“Wait Oleana, you’re still not over what happened during the last year-end party?”  
She immediately glared at him, enough to make him step back a bit but it was finally his turn to give his order to the barista and he immediately took the chance to retreat.  
“Just a small coffee…”  
He said, as his boss was staring daggers right behind him. She then got a phone call and looked at the screen but didn’t pick up yet.  
“Get me a small coffee as well and put it on my desk. I’m probably going to return in an hour or so.”  
It seemed like a rather important call and she walked away to talk privately. Leon added another coffee to his order and then moved to the side to wait.

Just as he was picking up his cups of coffee, he noticed Raihan paying at the register.  
“Hey, wait up!”  
Raihan turned and called out to him.He got his order quickly since there were no other orders to wait on. After they grabbed a few lids, they walked back to the office together.  
“So… what happened during the year-end party?”  
Raihan couldn’t help but ask after seeing Oleana’s reaction. He had decided to go down for a break after seeing that Leon had been away from his desk for a few minutes, and knew he would probably be here. While trying to catch up to him, he saw his boss right behind and decided to line up after a few more people got in line. He wasn’t trying to listen in on them but they weren’t exactly whispering either.  
Leon gave him a look of surprise. “How much did you hear us talk?”  
“I guess your whole conversation, I was trying to catch up but then saw Oleana.”

“Oh… Well, she seems to believe I’m some sort of male ‘temptress’. Just when I thought I could act more normal around her...” He sighed, and also felt a bit grossed out just saying it.  
“Haha, that’s pretty funny.”  
Leon looked relieved but then Raihan pulled him in closer to whisper to him.  
“There’s no way I’d believe that… I mean… you were pretty bad at it in the beginning, like you had no experience at all.”  
“Rai!!”  
He then let go of him, remembering that Leon wanted him to do that less in public.  
“Opps, I better keep my hands to myself. So tell me what happened at this party. It’s a rare sight to see someone as uptight as your boss looking all flustered.”  
“Ah, well it was pretty embarrassing for the both of us actually.”

The previous year-end holiday party took place at Rose Hotel. Every full-timer was invited and it was a formal event where even the CEO Rose himself went to. The department Leon was in made the most profit out of all the others, and it was all thanks to Oleana’s leadership. Rose decided to spend more time meeting and conversing with members of the same department, but out of everyone, it seemed like he had piqued his interest the most. The event had started in the evening and most of his coworkers already had a few glasses of champagne. He had been chatting amongst others for the past few others and was feeling tired. Thinking that he had stayed long enough at this social event, he made his way to the door to leave. On the way, Rose had once again walked up to him, looking flushed in the face.  
“Hello again, Leon, was it? I forgot to mention, but I’ve heard good things about you from Oleana.”  
“Haha, is that so? I’m flattered, she would never praise me in person.”  
He was once again trapped into a conversation, but it turned out to be quite pleasant. Instead of talking much about work related things, they were discussing hobbies and just the atmosphere in general. Feeling just a bit bored listening to Rose almost drunkenly ramble, he noticed Oleana had been staring at them from a few meters away as she was talking to another group of people. As soon as Rose saw Leon getting distracted, he patted his shoulder.  
“There’s something important I need to talk to you about, and it’s rather noisy here, how about we go to another room for more privacy?”  
Leon was quite surprised by his request but not as much as Oleana. She had clearly been eavesdropping their conversation and then stormed towards them. She hesitated while thinking up an excuse but ended up telling Leon to go back to the office and check if he locked the file cabinet properly. He gave her a confused look, as they’ve already stopped using the file cabinet months ago and went digital. He had wanted to tell her that she was drunk and that she should go home, but after noticing everyone else was staring at them he decided to do just as he was told and not cause a scene. Feeling a bit lightheaded himself, he was relieved that Oleana gave him the chance to go back home.  
It was already known throughout the floor that Oleana was quite ambitious and trying to get promoted until she was reporting directly to Rose, but after the party, people began gossiping about them and spreading rumors. His favourite was the rumor where Rose wanted to spend the night with Leon but Oleana got in the way of his one-night-stand where it would have resulted in a promotion to being his secretary. Oleana always looked like she gets an instant migraine every time she hears that story.

“Umm… Wow. You don’t think the CEO himself was inviting you to…”  
“No, of course not. I’m sure he actually had something important to say, and it wasn’t to ask me how soft the beds were. I’ll never know.”  
The elevator stopped and opened its doors just as he finished his sentence.  
“See you after work, Rai.”

“Took you long enough, Leon. I’m almost done with everything.”  
“Huh? I was only gone for a few minutes.”  
“It was close to half an hour.”  
Leon passed Sonia her cup of coffee and she gave him back the change for it.  
“I only have one more inquiry left so I think I can handle it on my own. Thanks for getting me this though.”  
“Yeah, no problem.”  
Leon placed the other cup on Oleana’s desk and then went to sit back at his. He sighed in boredom but scooted his chair closer to the computer and opened up his self-evaluation form. Going through his list of goals, he had mostly completed them all except for the current project he was working on, but he was on track thanks to Raihan. He read the next question he had to answer.  
“How have you demonstrated your leadership skills?”  
Reading through the company values once again, there was at least one of the points he could say he had for sure fulfilled. He started typing on his keyboard.

_I encouraged others to work as hard as me._

The question said to describe in detail but… he didn’t want to get into details. He was sure Oleana didn’t want to know the exact details but she should already understand. He typed it out just in case.

_You know already._ :) 

Feeling satisfied with his mostly one-liner answers for his self-evaluation, he submitted the form and closed his laptop. He took out his phone and started texting Raihan, asking if he could leave work earlier to go out on an adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fk man rose asking leon how soft the beds r and then promoting him to be his secretary sounds like a better fic than what i started with lol


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally the adventure

“Hey, Leon… just what exactly do you need to do in Spikemuth?”  
“I just need to visit a shop there.”  
“Oh okay. Kind of surprised that you need to go all the way here for it.”  
“Haha… yeah…”  
Leon laughed nervously. Going to Spikemuth from Wyndon wasn’t a short trip since there was no train to the town, but there was just something he had to look for out there. One of the convenience store chains was selling limited edition Pokemon keychains, and he wanted to collect them all. Different cities had different stock, and Spikemuth was the last place he needed to go to. He was just missing Zigzagoon to complete his collection.

The taxi stopped in front of the gates of the town. As soon it drove away, Raihan held onto Leon’s hand as they walked into the town.  
“Huh? W-wait…”  
“Not like we know anyone here in this area, so this is fine right? Plus, the streets are quite crowded today. I wonder what kind of event they have.”  
Leon was surprised but didn’t push his hand away. He felt a little embarrassed but everyone around them were walking deeper into the town. The store he needed to visit was close to the gates.

“I need to make a stop here.”  
Leon pointed toward the shop he wanted to go to. There weren’t that many people around since everyone seemed to be more focused on going to the inner parts of the town for the live concert. He let go of Raihan’s hand and walked towards the automatic doors.  
“Hey wait, you’re not serious, are you? That convenience store is in every city. We even passed by one getting off Hammerlocke station!”  
“Just let me quickly buy what I need and we can go exploring!”  
Leon grabbed onto Raihan’s hand again and dragged him inside. They went to the aisle that had the keychains, but there were only two random boxes left.  
“I didn’t know they were selling these.”  
“They only started selling them a few days ago.”  
The banner over the display stated that Zigzagoon can only be obtained from this particular store.  
“That’s the one you need right?”  
Raihan pointed to the sign.  
“Yeah, but it looks like the chances are going to be slim.”  
Raihan took the two boxes with him.  
“Let’s try our luck anyway. Was there anything else you needed to buy?”  
“Well, there is one thing…”  
Leon leaned closer to whisper to him.  
“We’re almost out of condoms.”  
He could see Raihan’s face redden and had the urge to tease him a bit.  
“W-We can always buy them on the way back!”  
“Hmmm, but they’re rather important and I don’t want us to forget later.”  
“Tch… Alright fine. You can wait for me outside, I’ll quickly grab them and pay.”  
“Thanks Rai.”  
Leon giggled, and walked towards the exit. Looking around the area, there were also some restaurants they could go to on the way back after checking out the concert. Raihan appeared a few minutes later, holding onto the two boxes and everything else already stored away in his work bag. He passed one of the boxes to Leon, and watched him open it. He took out the keychain, but it turned out to be a Trapinch instead of a Zigzagoon.  
“Aww, I have this one already. You can have it, Rai.”  
“Oh nice, I actually like this Pokemon. Let me open this one.”  
Raihan teared open his box. As soon as he saw a hint of black and white, he quickly turned to hide it from Leon seeing it.  
“Hey! What did you get?”  
Seeing Raihan’s reaction made Leon curious and impatient, but Raihan was now the one teasing him.  
“Come on! Show me!!”  
Leon was now clinging onto Raihan, but Raihan quickly unwrapped the keychain to put into Leon’s hand.  
“For you.”  
“Jeez… Thanks, Rai.”  
Leon hugged him and then shoved the keychain into his pocket. Raihan had hooked his keychain onto his bag and then they continued walking along the road hand in hand to browse the rest of the shops.

There was a live outdoor concert at the end of the town. Posters were put up along the walls of the buildings, but it turned out that it had started a while ago already. By the time they were close enough to see the stage from a distance, the event was almost over. They could hear the sound of the punk rock music dying down, and the singer talking to the crowd.  
“Everyone, thanks for comin’ to my concert! But let’s not forget that I don’t do encores, so see ya next time!”  
Raihan thought that voice sounded familiar.  
“Feels like I heard that voice before.”  
“Of course, he’s your coworker!”  
“Huh? What are you talking about?”  
“That’s Piers!”  
Just as Leon said that, they caught Piers sneaking out of the stage area into town from an alleyway. As soon as Piers saw them, he had a shocked expression on his face. He was also looking downwards, and Raihan noticed that he was looking at them holding hands. He quickly let go of Leon’s hand.  
“Oh, hey, Piers! Why didn’t you tell me you were some super star in this town!? Wanna go grab dinner with us together?”  
The atmosphere was quite awkward now and Piers looked like he wanted to escape.  
“No thanks, chaps. I have other plans already.”  
“Aww, don’t be like that bro. We always go to the usual spot. I don’t mind if ya hang out with your friends.”  
A younger girl had walked up to them, dressed in a similar style to Piers.  
“That’s Piers’ sister. Her name is Marnie.”  
Leon decided to introduce them since Piers was still scowling.  
“Nice to meet you. My name’s Raihan.”  
“I’m happy to meet you in person, Raihan. I’m actually a fan of yours!”  
“Uggh… Come on Marnie, maybe some other time?” Piers groaned.  
“My bro had told me you were his coworker when you joined the company, but he would never let me see you in person when I met up with him after work.”  
“Huh? Why’s that?”  
“Oh, that’s ‘cause-”  
“Nnn… Alright! Enough chit chat, let’s go get some grub.”  
Piers immediately interrupted them and walked towards the ‘usual spot’.  
Marnie turned towards them.  
“Don’t worry too much about my bro, he’s sometimes a lil’ restless after a live. Let’s catch up before he tries to escape again.”

Following Marnie, they ended up at a small bar restaurant with all tables filled except for the counter. Piers was already talking to one of the waiters.  
“I’ll have two more guests with me today, I hope that’s not too much of an issue.”  
“No worries, Piers! We reserved half the counter for you as usual. I’ll get you some menus and water to start.”

Piers sat down on his usual seat. The chair even had his singer’s logo on it. To his surprise, Leon sat next to him on his right.  
“We haven’t talked to each other much ever since you switched roles, huh?”  
Leon flashed him a smile, and then looked at the menu on the table.  
Piers sighed and turned to Marnie and Raihan, who were still trying to decide where to sit.  
“Hey Raihan, please sit next to my bro. I wanna talk to you lots about your stream and I wouldn’t want him interruptin’ me every time I wanna ask you somethin’!”  
“Sis, I can still interrupt if yer just a seat away.”  
“Aww, don’t be like that Piers. I can’t treat my fans like that so ask me whatever you want, Marnie!”  
Raihan sat down next to Piers and slung the strap of his bag over the chair backrest.

After eating, they all stayed back to have a few more drinks. After just one beer, Piers was already feeling a bit more talkative. Leon started chatting with him while Raihan was busy entertaining Marnie.  
“I’m surprised you decided to take on a support role, Piers. You were doing just fine and helped us a lot while you were a dev, though I mean you’re still just as helpful in your new role now.”  
“Uggghhh… Don’t remind me. I had thought I’d have it easy once I switched since I’d say I did a pretty organized job of codin’, but then the new guy they hired messed up just about everythin’ I wrote!”  
Raihan glanced over to them after hearing a bit of their conversation.  
“Don’t worry, it’s not you. It was the guy before you but I always wondered why they let him go. Was surprisingly abrupt and Melony wouldn’t tell us why.”  
Piers reassured him. Leon could only nervously laugh as he knew the full story but didn’t feel like sharing the details of the disturbing event and spoiling the mood.  
“Was it really that hard before? Then again this was back when Oleana wasn’t in her current position and she was handling most of the talking.”  
“Course it was. Oleana never accepted any reasonable deadline extensions. I had to work plenty of overtime. At least it’s only busy during each end of the month, so I still have more free time to write songs and do concerts.”  
Piers paused to take another sip of his second beer.  
“Well how about you? Didn’t you also want out of Oleana’s team?”  
“Haha… yeah this will probably be the last project I work on…”  
Leon peeked over at Raihan, but he was still talking with Marnie and probably didn’t hear him say that. Prior to Raihan joining the IT team, he thought he wasn’t feeling satisfied or happy with his results at work. He had been putting his resume out and applying to jobs at other companies but didn’t have much luck in finding a good offer yet. Oleana then told him the previous developer was being replaced for what she heard was a more competent one. Raihan was able to do his job properly, and he was beginning to feel less stressed again, just like the time when he was working closely with Piers. Since it was probably still going to be his last project on Oleana’s team, making it now a bit of a depressing subject, he wanted to talk about something else.  
“Oh yeah! There’s lots of people visiting this town just for you today, looks like you got a ton more fans since the last time you gave me a ticket to your concert. You should have let me know and I would have arrived earlier.”  
“Haaah… don’t you remember the last time what happened when I invited you?”  
“H-Hey! I told you I’d get lost on the way but you didn’t believe me! I asked you to wait for me by the gates…”  
“Which I did, but you didn’t show up so I had to go before I was late to my own concert!”  
“Ah right… I got lost in the grassy areas outside…”  
“I had called you to give you the directions _and_ also texted it to you. Can’t believe you ended up on a private beach in Route 9! I can’t begin to imagine how you even got there! The directions I gave you never mentioned swimming at all.”  
“Look… it’s been so long I can’t even remember myself!”

Raihan wasn’t sure if he should be concerned after hearing a story like that, but figured this was probably why Leon wanted him to tag along. He then felt a tug at his sleeve while Marnie was still on her phone. She then showed him her profile on the streaming site.  
“I’m actually trying to start a channel of my own on the same streaming site you use. Do you have any tips for someone just starting out?”  
“Hey sis, we already had this conversation! I don’t want ya to get into that stuff!”  
Piers interrupted. Marnie immediately gave him a disappointed look.  
“My bro is too overprotective. Raihan, it can’t be that bad right? You’re always pretty composed while streaming games. He thinks I’m going to get a bunch of mean comments.”  
“Aha… well…”  
Raihan thought of the time period not long ago when he got a boost in popularity all thanks to Leon. He’d admit some of the things said in chat had bothered him for a bit but after reconciling with Leon, he didn’t care anymore, and he even started streaming less since he would rather spend time with him.  
“That’s not entirely true. Sometimes I do feel the pressure but I’d like to forget about the discouraging stuff as soon as the stream’s live.”  
Marnie looked to the side. That wasn’t exactly the reply she was expecting to convince her brother. Raihan didn’t want to discourage her from doing something she wanted to do.  
“I mean, maybe you can try streaming with you brother? I’m guessing you also want to stream the Pokemon Sword and Shield games right? Your brother is already pretty popular, and I’m sure it’ll be quite entertaining watching the both of you play!”  
Marnie’s eyes lit up at his suggestion.  
“That’s a brilliant idea, Raihan! Bro, you’re going to do this for me right??”  
“Great, now everyone can watch me lose. My lil sis is pretty good at that game. A lot better than me.”  
“Yay! Thanks Piers!”  
Piers smiled slightly. The last time he saw her this happy was when he surprised her with a new Morpeko plush as soon as it hit the stores.

“Well chaps, it’s about time we get the bill and head home. At least it’s already the weekend.”  
Piers had asked for the bill to be separate except for his and Marnie’s. He promised he’d pay next time if they actually made it all the way to see his concert. Raihan straightened his shirt, but upon looking down, he noticed he got a fresh stain on it. He got up to head for the washroom to see if he could save his light blue shirt from being ruined by a speck of tomato sauce.  
“Hey just need a few minutes in the men’s room. My wallet’s in my bag if you can help me save some time.”  
“No need to worry, they’re usually a little slow with the bill delivery-”  
Just as Piers said that, the waiter came up with the bills ready. Piers and Leon had paid but Raihan still wasn’t back yet so Piers took his bag and searched the pockets.  
“Strange, I checked everywhere but maybe it’s in this plastic bag?”  
Piers opened the tied up bag only to find a box of large ultra-thin condoms, and a small wallet next to it.  
“Ah-... p-pass me the wallet. I know which card he usually pays with.”  
Piers looked like he saw something he didn’t really want to see, but zipped up and placed Raihan’s bag back on his chair. He handed the wallet over to Leon. Leon took out a card, and stuck it into the payment machine, and even entered in Raihan’s pin code. Piers wasn’t about to ask why he would know that but figure it had something to do with them holding hands earlier.  
About a minute later, Raihan finally came back. Sadly it was a victory in favour of the tomato sauce. He pocketed his wallet after Leon handed it to him.  
“Sorry, I may have taken longer than expected…”  
“Not a problem. We had just finished payin’ so let’s head out.”

Once they stepped out of the restaurant, they already had to go in separate directions.  
“I’ll admit, it was fun hangin’ out and my sis is quite pleased. Maybe I’ll be willing to do this again some other day.”  
“Bye and have a good night guys. It was nice meeting you, Raihan!”  
“Same to you Marnie, have a good night.”  
Marnie waved goodbye while Piers just nodded before they turned around and walked in the opposite direction deeper into the town.

Even with their coats on, it was still chilly out in the fall season. The town was still quite lively at night and Leon clung onto his arm while he was trying to flag down a taxi.  
“Leon, you don’t need to take the train back to your place in Postwick right? It’s pretty late so why not stay at my place tonight?”  
This would be the first time he invited Leon over to his place. All the other times he would hang out at Leon’s just because it was closer to the office, but Hammerlocke was right next to Spikemuth.  
“Hmmm, I don’t have to go to Postwick today…”  
Leon looked up and smiled at him. His cheeks reddened just a tiny bit.  
“You’re too cute…”  
Raihan leaned down and kissed him, forgetting they were in public still, but Leon didn’t seem to care too much this time and even kissed him back. A taxi then stopped in front of them. The driver waited a short moment before rolling down the window and asking if they still needed a ride. Slight embarrassment followed after being startled by the driver’s voice, and they quickly boarded the back seat of the car.

…

“Got anything for me to wear?”  
Leon had finished his shower and came out with only a towel on. Raihan was already lying on his bed with the pillows propped up since he was watching TV while waiting. He glanced over to him.  
“Nah, I think you’re just fine like that. You can help me put this on though.”  
He threw at him a small object that he quickly caught in his hands.  
“I’m just kidding, you might be tired from all the walking today. I have some shirts in the closet so pick whatever you want to wear.”  
Leon brought the small square package and ripped it open using his teeth.  
“... You’re right, I’m just fine the way I am.”  
He dropped his wet towel on the floor and walked towards the bed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeaaaah i'll finish this fic hopefully by the end of 2020


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> stam sucks

“Nnnn…”  
Raihan turned in his bed and then let out a yawn. The sun was already peeking through the blinds. Wanting to sleep for a little longer, he turned away from the window but was met with the sleepy face of his partner.  
“Mmm… Morning Rai…”  
“Ah, sorry, did I wake you?”  
Leon let out a yawn and then slumped back down on his pillow.  
“Not really… Don’t wanna get up though. Just feeling a little sore…”  
“Sorry babe. Oh, it’s just ten right now. If you’re hungry I’ll make some breakfast and bring it over-”  
“Ah! It’s that late already!? I need to check my stamina!”  
Leon quickly got off the bed to rummage through his clothes strewn on the floor. After picking up his cellphone, he went back to the bed to lie snugly under the blanket. He was already tapping away on his phone, getting his daily bonus boosts for the new event.  
“Alright, I’ll be back with something to eat in a bit.”  
Raihan got up to put his underwear on and a random T-shirt. He picked up his own cell phone before heading to the kitchen. After washing his hands, he checked the fridge. He was just going to make some buttered toast and eggs.  
While waiting for the pan to heat up, he thought about his previous relationship. He had only invited his ex to his place once but only stayed for a few minutes, saying his place was too messy and left. Another good thing about Leon was that outside work hours, he never once talked about work, even if the project progress was a little slow. He could still vividly remember his ex yelling at him after waking up one morning trying to get him to work on a weekend and finish up a project for her.  
When the sunny-side-up eggs were just about done, the bread had popped up from the toaster. His ex would have hated him for not making something fancier, but Leon would eat just about anything you put in front of him. Right when he was just thinking about him, the man himself stepped into the kitchen and sat down at the dining table.  
“Took a quick shower. What’s for breakfast?”  
“Just simple stuff. Ah! That hoodie…”  
“This was the one you bought on our first date right? Oh wait, you don’t mind me wearing it right now, right?”  
“Of course you can wear it! I think it looks great on you. I only sometimes wear it when I’m streaming.”  
“It’s quite comfy, but it is a little big.”  
Leon gently pulls the collar downwards, his chest and nipples visible and revealing a bite mark at a familiar spot.  
“Raihan… remember when I told you not to bite me?”  
“Ahhh… yeah…”  
“You bit me and left a mark again.”  
“I… I can see that. I’m sorry.”  
Leon pouted. “You can suck on them, just don’t bite them-”  
“O-Okay!! I get it. Let’s eat before I feel like continuing where we left off last night!”  
“Jeez…”  
Raihan put down two plates of food, and moved to sit across from him. Leon was grinning while stuffing his face. He started blushing just watching him sloppily eat and wolf down his home cooked meal in front of him.  
“You’re making it look like it’s really tasty.”  
“That’s because it is. Simple is best.”  
After putting the eating utensils aside, Leon picked up Raihan’s phone.  
“What are you doing with that?”  
“Helping you play your game while you eat, what else?”  
“Oh, n-nothing…”  
“You sound suspicious. Did you take photos last night again?”  
“N-no! And don’t check!”  
“So you did.”  
Leon went through his recent photos, and there was only one of him in bed last night. It only showed his upper body and he was sleeping on his front while holding hands with Raihan. There was also a visible hickey on his back.  
“Raihan, you marked my body again.”  
“I have no self control…”  
“I’ll forgive you this time. My hair covers it anyway.”  
“Ah, so that’s a safe spot-”  
“Hmmm?”  
“Nothing!”  
Raihan went back to eating while Leon opened the game app again. They both sat in silence, but Raihan was occasionally sneaking glances at Leon to see if he was still grumpy about it. After a while, Leon passed him back his phone and went to check his own.  
“Haaah…”  
Leon let out a sigh, but the next thing that came out of his mouth almost made Raihan spit out his coffee.  
“When are you going to meet my parents?”  
“Huh?”  
“My brother wants me to go out and buy this new video game for him that just released today. Want to come with me?”  
“Wait, don’t just change the subject!”  
Leon’s mouth then curved to a slight smile and he looked at Raihan.  
“Hi mom, dad. This is my boyfriend Raihan. If you wanted grandkids, you’re going to have to rely on Hop and Gloria…”  
“Hey… You’re not serious, are you?”  
Raihan could feel his face heating up. All of his previous relationships never lasted long and he never had to think that far ahead. Back in college he lived in the dorms so no parents there, and with his ex-girlfriend from his previous workplace, her parents were still living abroad.  
“I guess you have a point. Hop would get mad at me if I said that.”  
“Who’s Hop?”  
“He’s my younger brother! He’s still in high school though, and exams are coming up for him. He wants me to buy that video game for him while he’s stuck at home studying.”  
“Ah…”  
Raihan remembered that name, partly because Leon liked more of Hop’s posts than his on social media. Now he was starting to feel a bit silly for feeling slightly jealous about it.  
“So Rai, you want to head out?”  
“Of course, let’s go.”

…

After buying the game from a local game shop in Hammerlocke, Raihan walked Leon to the train station before heading back home. As much as he wanted to spend more time with him, Leon was asked to go back home in Postwick as soon as he could to help prepare for a family gathering dinner. While he was cool with meeting his parents, he was far from being mentally prepared to introduce himself to each of his other relatives so he told Leon maybe next time. It was cold out and today was more of a sweater day than a long-sleeved shirt day. He was still shivering when he got home, and quickly went to take a hot bath. For the rest of the day, he decided to spend the time playing the same game Leon had bought for Hop. He had picked himself up a copy while shopping with Leon.

…

The following morning, his throat felt itchy. He didn’t have cold medicine at home, but was feeling too lazy to head out. Leon was also busy today, so he spent the day streaming and playing random games he had that his viewers wanted to see. He was playing an action RPG game that involved timing attacks in combat, and exploring dungeon-like maps. His viewers also requested him to play at the hardest difficulty for a game he had never played before, and was asked to set up a counter for the number of deaths so far. He was nearing a hundred including cliff falls. Playing at the hardest difficult was quite frustrating, and he had spent almost an hour just trying to clear the previous boss. Now that he was feeling tired, he decided to save the game and tell his viewers he’ll continue it next time.  
While making dinner for himself, he was starting to feel a bit unwell. After eating he checked the temperature outside before deciding what to wear. He was more appropriately dressed for the weather this time, and put on a scarf before heading out to the nearest convenience store for cold medicine. Once he was back home again, he took two tablets and got ready for bed.

…

His alarm woke him up the next morning, but he started coughing after sitting up in bed. He checked his phone and noticed Leon sent him a message last night while he was sleeping earlier than usual.

_saw your message just now, i’m actually feeling a little sick_   
_how was your dinner last night?_

After texting Leon, he got off the bed to pick up his work laptop from his bag. He sat at his desk and turned it on to send an email to his team. He wrote that he was going to work from home today since he was feeling sick, and that he’ll be going to a walk-in clinic as soon as it opens. Since it was six in the morning and the clinic opened at eight, he decided to stay awake and make breakfast. His throat started hurting so his cold had gotten worse. After eating and playing phone games for an hour, he went out to walk to the clinic.

Leon replied to him a little after nine.

_hey rai, i’m actually on vacation today_   
_are you still feeling sick? let me nurse you back to health_

_thanks, but i don’t want you to catch my cold_ :(

Raihan made it back home at ten and messaged his team that he’s going to start work now. His team had told him to take the day off but he didn’t want to. He was almost done with the last bit of coding for the entire project, and he wanted to finish it all today so he’d have more time for testing and to review it with Kabu. At around noon, he heard a knock on his door. He checked the peephole and saw Leon standing right outside holding onto a few grocery bags and food thermos.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dont do this during a pandemic

“Hey Rai! Let me in!”  
“L-Leon! I told you that you shouldn’t come.”  
Raihan opened the door for him. The moment he breathed in the cold air, he quickly turned around to cover his mouth while coughing.  
“Ah… that does sound pretty bad. But it’s only been a day since we’ve seen each other, how could you get sick so quickly!?”  
“Come on, Leon… it’s not like I want to be sick. I usually get sick during this season though.”  
“Anyway, it’s already noon so you should eat! I ate already but I brought you something.”  
Leon took off his shoes and went into the kitchen to put down the grocery bags on the floor and thermos on the table.  
“Eat this while it’s still hot. If you do, you’ll get better in no time!”  
Raihan sat down in front of the dining table. Leon found a clean bowl and started pouring the porridge out of the thermos into it. After grabbing a spoon to throw in, he placed the bowl in front of Raihan.  
“Wow, did you make this yourself?”  
Leon sat down across from him.  
“I helped chop the green onions for it.”  
There weren't many green onions in there to begin with upon inspection. Raihan scooped up a spoonful and blew on it to cool it down a bit before having a taste.  
“Hmmm, it smells great… and tastes pretty good!”  
He was immediately hungrier just after a bite. It wasn’t bland at all and he started stirring to have it cool faster. There were meat and veggies but most importantly, it was well seasoned and flavourful.  
“My mom actually made it...”  
While watching Raihan eat, he continued talking.  
“When I read your text while eating breakfast with her, I asked her ‘what’s a good meal to make when you’re sick?’ She then asked if I wasn’t feeling well and I accidentally told her my lover is sick with a cold…”  
“What did she say after?”  
“She asked ‘how long have you two been dating?’ I told her for almost a month now. She then asked when I would introduce you to her.”  
“Well, I’m going to have to thank her in person for making this meal for me.”  
“You can come visit our home back in Postwick this weekend. I can’t wait to see how Hop reacts as soon as he sees you. He’s a fan of yours too!”  
“Haha, did he watch my stream yesterday?”  
“Of course he did. He had his phone with him all day just to watch you fall off all those cliffs, lose your progress, and start all over again.”  
“Uggghhhh I’ve never felt so stressed from playing a video game... I didn’t know hell mode was going to be _that_ hard! Well I guess it was worth it if your brother enjoyed it.”  
“He’s going to enjoy seeing you this weekend more, so make a speedy recovery!”

Leon then got up and started putting the things from the grocery bags into Raihan’s fridge.  
“I went to the grocery store beforehand to pick up some food so you didn’t need to head out. My mom also wrote down the recipe for the porridge if you ever want to make it again yourself.”  
Raihan finished his meal and took his bowl along with Leon’s empty thermos to the kitchen sink to wash.  
“Thanks a lot, maybe I’ll try making it again for dinner.”  
He then turned to Leon, and noticed he was acting a little mischievous. His eyes were almost sparkling, and he was holding onto a packaged custard pudding he found in the fridge. Raihan had forgotten he had bought it a few days ago, but he shouldn’t be eating sugary stuff while he was sick. He had boiled water earlier and the water was still warm. After pouring some for himself into a mug, he took his medicine.  
“Alright, I’m going back to work. You can make yourself at home, let me know if you need anything.”  
“You sure you don’t want a bite?”  
“... I’m sure.”  
“Good self-restraint, now if only you could do the same when you kiss-”  
“I-I hear you! Enjoy my pudding for me!”  
“I’ll give you one to eat when you come to my place~”  
Raihan went back into his room, leaving Leon alone in the kitchen eating his pudding. As much as he wanted to take his laptop into the kitchen to work, he didn’t want to spread too many germs around.

He opened his laptop and noticed Sonia had messaged him, asking him a question related to a column in the data report his code had generated. After looking back at his code, and back at the initial requirement documentation, he sent back to her his findings and explanation for it.

_Raihan: Here, check this section in the documentation. I added the mentioned two columns together but maybe it was supposed to be something else? Like maybe this one here?_   
_Sonia: Yeah probably. It’s just not matching up with the report we’re comparing with. We’ll have to ask Leon when he comes back to confirm though._   
_Raihan: Okay wait hold on._   
_Sonia: ?_

“Hey, Leon? Can you- Oh actually, nevermind!”  
A moment later, Leon opened the door to his room.  
“What is it, Rai?”  
“Ahhh… haha… I forgot you were on vacation.”  
Leon went in and leaned over his seat to take a look.  
“Don’t worry about it, what were you going to ask?”  
“Oh… if this value is right.”  
Raihan moved aside to let Leon sit down and take a look at the opened reports.  
“Looks like there was a mistake, it should be taking this other value. The column names were pretty similar.”  
“Alright, I’ll just tell Nessa to update the documents and make the change.”  
“Thanks, Rai!”  
Leon got up from the chair and gave Raihan a smooch on the cheek.  
“Leon…!! I just want to remind you that I’m sick!”  
“If I get sick after, you can work from home at my place in Wyndon while I take a sick day. You’d have immunity.”  
“You already got everything planned, huh?”  
“Yep.”  
Raihan let out a sigh and continued working. He told Sonia he can make the change quickly and send her a new test report to compare. After doing so, she was quite pleased with the work.

_Sonia: Wow, that was pretty fast! Nice work, the numbers look good._   
_Raihan: No problem, just let me know if something else is off._

Leon was still hanging around in his room checking his phone. Raihan was in a meeting but had his microphone muted while listening to the discussion between Opal and Oleana.  
“Hey Rai, there’s a fitness gym nearby. I’m thinking of going there for an hour or two, if you’d let me borrow a pair of shorts to work out in instead of these sweatpants I’m wearing.”  
“Alright, sure.”  
“May I come back and use your shower? I’m not sure if people will notice this mark when I take off my shirt.”  
Leon lifted up his shirt. The bite mark was still visible but only slightly lighter than before, right around his nipple.  
“O-of course you can! Man… you’re not gonna let that go, are you?”  
“Hehe, I’ll be back in an hour or two then.”  
Leon looked through his clothing drawers, and found a pair of shorts that would fit him.  
“You can just take my gym bag by the door and empty out the stuff you don’t need. Also, here.”  
Raihan tossed him his house key.  
“I might be in a meeting still when you’re back so just let yourself in.”  
“Okay, thanks! I’ll make sure not to lose them, see you later!”

Raihan turned back to his computer and noticed that Opal and Nessa had been pinging him because Oleana had asked him a question.  
“Ahh, sorry! I was on mute.”  
Thankfully, those pings were just a few seconds ago and Oleana wasn’t too irritated about it. Oleana repeated her question with him asking for it and he quickly gave an answer.

…

A little more than two hours had passed, and Raihan was getting worried about giving Leon his keys. He remembered bits of the story Piers had talked about from the dinner they had. Leon was prone to getting lost in bizarre ways unless it was Wyndon for some reason.  
Fortunately a few minutes later, he heard his front door open. Leon knocked on his room door and opened to peek through shortly after.  
“Hey Raihan, I’m back. Just going to use your shower.”  
Leon closed his door again and left for the bathroom. Raihan decided to take a short break and refill his mug with water. He also went to pick up his keys Leon had left on a stool near the entryway.

Once Leon finished taking a shower, he went back into Raihan’s room. He sat down on the floor right next to Raihan’s chair and took out his phone.  
“Hey Rai, look at this.”  
Leon showed him a photo he had taken at the gym in front of a mirror. The photo showed his left leg. He was wearing the shorts he borrowed, but there was a noticeable mark on his calf that the shorts couldn’t cover. Raihan was getting vivid flashbacks of just how he gave him that hickey.  
“I’m sorry…”  
“I don’t think you really are, Rai…”  
Leon turned his chair and knelt in front of him between his legs.  
“L-Leon! What are you doing!? I’m still working!”  
Raihan had been feeling a little excited just thinking about what he did with Leon the other night. Leon had noticed and gently touched his erection through his lounge pants.  
“I didn’t know you liked working so much…”  
“Leon, I’m definitely _not_ aroused because of work.”  
Raihan coughed onto his sleeve and turned back toward Leon. He held onto his pants to prevent Leon from pulling them down.  
“I’ll take care of this myself later. I don’t want you to get sick staying so close.”  
“It’ll be faster if I do it.”  
“Nice joke, okay let me get back- Ah!”  
The moment he let go of his own pants, Leon stuck his hand in and started fondling his penis through his underwear. He then pulled out his cock from his pants.  
“Don’t mind me Raihan… I’ll just be using my hands.”  
“...”  
At least, that was what Leon said but a moment later, he was kissing and licking the base of his cock.  
Raihan was speechless and buried his face in his hands. There was absolutely no way he could concentrate on working during the last hour left of his work day. He opened a new private message with Nessa.

_Raihan: Feeling unwell so I think I’ll sign off now. Let the others know._   
_Nessa: Why do I have to let them know?_

Raihan closed his laptop and turned his attention to Leon.  
“Ahhh… Leon… your tongue…”  
Just as he said that, Leon stopped licking him and started only using his hand to stroke him.  
“Opps, I said I would only be using my hands right?”  
Raihan then put his hand over Leon’s to stop him from stroking. He tilted his penis towards Leon’s lips.  
“Stop teasing me… Can you… use your mouth again?”  
Leon blushed, remembering the last time he did it. He didn’t give Raihan a blowjob ever since the one he gave him as soon as he stepped into his apartment. He shyly licked the tip a bit before wrapping his lips around him. His saliva leaked from his mouth while he was passionately sucking him off. He would look at Raihan’s face from time to time just to see his reaction if he was liking what he was doing with his tongue.  
“Nnn… Leon…! I’m going to come…!!”  
Not wanting to make him swallow again, he removed his penis out of Leon’s mouth. He held onto Leon’s hair keeping him in place and started fervently stroking his cock until he ejaculated. His semen splashed all over Leon’s face, and he stood there looking down at him. Leon leaned closer to lick the rest of it off his penis with his tongue.  
“Raihan…”  
Leon’s face was flushed and he had been stroking himself but hadn't come yet. Raihan pushed him down to lie on the floor. He took Leon’s penis in his hand and stroked him. Slowly, he brought his face closer. He started kissing his inner thigh.  
“Ahhh…! S-Stop, Raihan! Don’t leave any marks…”  
“No one will see them here… the shorts will cover it…”  
“Hnn… Ahhh…!”  
After leaving a few more kiss marks on Leon’s thighs, he licked his shaft and teased the tip of his penis with his fingers.  
“Ohhh… Raihan..!!”  
Leon orgasmed. His semen landed all over his shirt. Raihan got up and grabbed a nearby tissue box to wipe off as much as he could, and also handed him another shirt to change into.

…

The next day, Raihan was feeling a lot better. He bought himself some cough drops on his way to the office. As long as he had one in his mouth, he was a lot less likely to have the urge to cough. He caught a glimpse of Nessa waiting for the elevator while he walked over to her.  
“Hey, good morning.”  
“Good morning, aren’t you sick?”  
“Feeling a lot better now.”  
“Looks like a lot of people are getting sick around this time. Sonia just told me that Leon caught a cold as well. At least he’s on vacation for the entire week.”  
“For the entire week? I thought it was one day.”  
“Oh, you probably didn’t know that since he didn’t put it in his email signature. You can see the dates on his automatic email replies.”  
“Ahhh…”  
It looked like Leon was going to eat lunch without him for an entire week. Fortunately, Piers didn’t say much when Raihan sat next to him in the office cafeteria, but he also didn’t make much conversation. After being blatantly ignored by him for a while, Raihan took out his phone and started texting Leon.

_Raihan: did you really get sick?_   
_Leon: just sneezed a few times yesterday. feeling just fine now though so maybe it was the dusty basement i had to help clean up the entire night back at my parent’s place after i left yours_   
_Raihan: good to hear. also y didn’t u tell me u were off for the entire week? I miss u already :(_   
_Leon: sorry i forgot to tell you. let’s video chat later then, i’ll be at my parent’s for the entire week_   
_Raihan: ok u better not fall asleep on me like some of the other times_   
_Leon: i’ll try :)_

The rest of the work week for Raihan passed by rather quickly since he was still able to keep himself busy with code reviews and bug fixing. Fortunately for Piers, if it lasted any longer, he was going to lose his mind. Raihan had picked him as his target to bother during lunch instead of Milo and Kabu, partly because he was already bothering them for the other hours. Soon the weekend was already here, and he dressed himself up casually to meet Leon at Wedgehurst station.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the visit

“Lee, is it really your ‘lover’ that’s coming?”  
“Hmmm? What do you mean?”  
Leon and Hop made it to the station early. The train that Raihan was supposedly on was scheduled to arrive in a few minutes. Leon had asked Raihan to go in the morning so he could eat lunch with his family.  
“You say you’ve been dating her for a month, but you never talk about her ever when you visit over the weekends!”  
“What? Of course I do!”  
“What are you saying? Lately all you talk about is working with Raihan and-”  
“Ah! There he is! Over here, Raihan!”  
The two of them waved their hands to catch his attention. Raihan quickly walked over to them.  
“Oh! This must be your little brother. Hey Hop, it’s nice to finally meet you.”  
“Hi Raihan! Did Lee really talk to you about me a lot? Man that’s kind of embarrassing… haha…”  
Hop was a bit nervous around him but partly because he only knew him as a streamer. He was still overjoyed being able to meet him in person.  
“Alright Lee, when is your ‘lover’ coming so we can all head back home? I can’t wait to tell Gloria that The Great Raihan is over at my place!”  
Leon looked toward Raihan nervously. It was enough to tell him that he definitely didn’t give his family too many details just what kind of person they were going to expect. To Raihan’s surprise, Leon held onto his arm and turned toward Hop.  
“Raihan is my lover…”

“Huh?”  
It took a few seconds for Hop to fully process. He stood there dumbfounded for a while before it all clicked and he started screaming.  
“WHAAAAAT!? Are you for real, Lee!?”  
“Shhhh! Keep your voice down Hop.”  
“Ahh! S-Sorry…”  
Hop took a deep breath and calmed himself down.  
“Goodness, Lee, I never would have expected you to tell me you were dating Raihan!”  
He turned to Raihan, now with a playful smile plastered over his face.  
“Just what do you see in my brother, Raihan? He’s actually kind of clumsy and has no sense of direction! I came with him to pick you up just in case he gets himself lost on the way. One time, he ended up on an island in the middle of a lake near Sonia’s place! He still wouldn’t tell us just how he got there-”  
“Hey, I don’t get lost all the time! Especially when it really matters! Don’t forget when you got lost in the Slumbering Weald, I managed to find you and take you safely back home! Back then you were a lot cuter, crying and clinging onto to me as soon as-”  
“Ahhh! Okay, stop! That was so long ago anyways!”  
Hop quickly interrupted him before he could say anymore. The three of them made their way out of the station and walked along the road towards another residential area.  
“Wow, there’s a mansion over here?”  
Raihan pointed towards the big house in the distance.  
“Nah, but that’s our house. Not really a mansion though but still pretty cozy!”  
Hop explained, and then ran towards the gate. There were sheep grazing on the fields along the way. Raihan never would have expected that Leon was raised in this area. He had thought he was from the city to begin with.  
“Hurry up, you slowpokes! Mom told me she’d have pudding ready by the time we get back!”  
Hop yelled from the gate and then disappeared into the house. Leon grabbed onto Raihan’s hand.  
“The one I had at your house was a little too sweet. I think I’ll taste better with less sugar. I helped crack the eggs so I can’t wait for you to try!”  
“I’m sure it’ll taste better knowing you contributed, haha~”

Now that they were about to enter the front door, Raihan was becoming increasingly nervous. Leon noticed him fidgeting, and gave him a pat on the back.  
“Don’t worry! My parents are really kind.”  
Leon pulled him into the house by his arm. His mother was standing right by the corridor to the living room.  
“Welcome back Leon. Your dad stepped out to go with your grandparents for a walk. Oh my, who is this?”  
She asked as she walked over to them.  
“Ah- He’s… he’s my... ”  
Even Leon was too anxious to say it outright. It made Raihan feel better knowing he was just as nervous as he was. Watching him struggle a bit gave enough time to build up the confidence to talk for him.  
“Hi, my name’s Raihan. I’m Leon’s boyfriend.”  
His mother was quite surprised that Leon would bring back a man that looked about two metres tall, but nonetheless looked quite pleased.  
“So you’re Raihan! The one Leon usually talks about, it’s wonderful to finally meet you!”  
Raihan scratched his head and laughed nervously.  
“Haha… it’s a little embarrassing to hear that I’m the talk of this household.”  
“I’ve heard from my boys that you’re quite a popular streamer as well as a colleague! It must have taken you long to get here. Come with me to the kitchen for some drinks and snacks.”

Walking to the end of the hallway, there was a large kitchen and dining area. Raihan sat down at the table along with Hop and they started chatting. Leon opened the fridge to take out the custard pudding while his mother was grabbing a few plates from the cupboards.  
“Rai, what do you want to drink? We have soda and iced tea or you want something warm?”  
“Iced tea’s fine.”  
Leon poured him a glass and then set it in front of him at the table.  
“How about you, Hop?”  
“Are there any cream sodas left?”  
“I think we’re out of those, might have some in the basement, let me check.”  
As soon as Leon left to go look for Hop’s soda, his mother was done plating the pudding and sat down with them to eat. Hop then smiled mischievously.  
“Hehe, there isn’t actually any cream soda there but that might keep him busy looking for a while. There’s so many things I want to ask you, Raihan!”  
“Haha… come on, what did you want to ask that Leon shouldn’t hear?”  
“Hey don’t put it that way, I just feel like there might be some things you’d share without him around. So what do you like about my brother? He’s usually kind of oblivious to people’s feelings so I’m sure you had to ask him out.”  
The two looked quite eager to know. However, it was Leon who had asked him out first, he recalled. He wasn’t about to explain the full story of the events that lead to him asking him out.  
“Actually, it was Leon who asked me out first.”  
Raihan proudly answered. Both Hop and his mother were quite surprised after hearing that.  
“Really? I never would have thought. He has only had one previous relationship and it did not last very long. After his last breakup, he refused to date anyone else. I’m quite happy he’s finally found someone again.”  
“As for what I like about Leon… we share a lot of common interests and he’s hard working and ambitious. I know he cares a lot about me and I love him wholeheartedly…”  
Raihan was blushing while explaining that Hop was starting to feel a bit awkward, but his mother seemed delighted hearing someone else talk about Leon that way. Hop looked over to his mom and shrugged.  
“Hey mom, I could have sworn you were complaining about wanting grandchildren the other day, why the change of heart?”  
“Hop dear, I just want you two to be happy. I’m not too worried about not having grandchildren. Afterall, there’s still you and Gl-”  
“MOOOOM!!!”  
Now Hop was flustered. Leon returned and heard the commotion.  
“I couldn’t find any packs of cream soda. I guess we’ll have to buy more the next time we head to the supermarket. Anyway, what’s going on? I could hear Hop screaming from the stairs.”  
“Nothing you need to worry about, Lee. It wasn’t anything important. Come eat your pudding!”

Leon sat down at the empty seat with a plate of pudding in front. Hop got up to pour himself a drink.  
“Hey Lee, I heard from Raihan _you_ were the one who asked him out!”  
“I suppose I did.”  
Raihan was thankful he left it at that, but then he was sorely mistaken. After Leon took another bite of pudding, he started talking again.  
“He was the one who confessed to me first though, it was quite the-”  
“AAAahhhh! Leon! T-That’s our secret!”  
“Oh, okay. Sorry Hop, Raihan doesn’t want me to say it, but it was quite heartwarming what happened.”  
Leon continued eating this pudding. Raihan could vaguely remember if it was heartwarming at all, he just remembered being very drunk, but he was happy that Leon was willing to keep that embarrassing confession between the two of them. While chatting, Hop had gotten a notification on his cellphone and he went to check it. After reading the message, he turned to Raihan.  
“Hey Raihan, can I talk to you for a moment in private? Maybe like upstairs in my room.”  
“Sure, no problem.”  
“Oh, I bet it’s about-”  
“No, you don’t know what it’s about, Lee! Alright, come with me Raihan.”

Hop took Raihan upstairs to his room. As soon as they stepped in, he started cleaning up a bit. There were a few books and the ground and he just set them back in a nearby bookshelf.  
“You see, I can’t ask anyone else about this. You’ve already seen how much my family teases me about it…”  
Hop looked rather distraught but he continued.  
“I guess I just want some advice. You look like you might have more experience and I definitely can’t ask Lee about these things! He’ll tease me to no end. Today’s also the last day to order prom tickets. I was going to ask Gloria if she wanted to come with me, but…”  
Hop paused for a bit.  
“...but what?”  
“AAaagh! There’s this guy, Bede. He’s a bit of a pretentious prick in our class. Gloria’s the smartest in our class with this guy coming in second. When we got our quizzes back last week, he asked Gloria what she got. After hearing she scored just one point higher than him, he told her he didn’t study at all and then left in a huff. Kind of a weird guy, huh? But the other day I overheard him talking to himself. He said he was going to ask Gloria to go with him to the prom…”  
“Hmmm…”  
Raihan was thinking about the time he went to prom. In fact, he got rejected when he asked a girl out. He told his friends he had gotten sick, and then spent the day at home playing video games instead. He had better luck once he was in college.  
“I just don’t know what to do! I feel like maybe I have no chance. As of late, he had even switched up his fashion style. I heard a rumor a bunch of girls even started a fanclub for him! I think Gloria even complimented him once…”  
“Aww, come on, don’t think of giving up before you try!”  
Raihan slapped his slouching back straight and continued his pep talk.  
“Seems to me that you’re just not feeling confident after comparing yourself with Bede. You shouldn’t feel that way. I’ve been through the same situation countless times, even when I confessed to Leon. If I never told him how I felt, well… I wouldn’t even be here talking to you.”  
Raihan wasn’t about to use his own prom story as an example. Hop lifted his head after pondering it over. A part of him wanted to wait for Gloria to ask him herself but he might as well put in more confidence and do it.  
“...You’re right, Raihan. I won’t know until I try and as far as I know, Gloria hasn’t told me she has asked anyone yet!”

Just then, the doorbell rang followed by a knock on the door. Hop quickly ran out of his room.  
“Hey mom! Let me open the door, that’s probably Gloria!”  
He quickly ran down the stairs. Checking the peephole to confirm his guest, he opened the door. Gloria greeted him but Marnie was also with her.  
“Hi Hop! Marnie was hanging out at my place earlier so I brought her here with me.”  
“Ah- No problem, come on in!”  
Hop was a bit disappointed that Marnie was there, but he wasn’t going to let that prevent him from asking.

Meanwhile, Leon made his way upstairs after washing the dishes. Raihan was about to go down but Leon told him to go to the room on the left. He opened the door and went in, almost gasping at the number of hats on display. The one he had bought for him was hanging on the display above his bed frame. On his desk there were various magazines. There was one open on a page about travelling.  
“Thinking of going somewhere?”  
Raihan asked him as he sat down at his desk to take a closer look. Leon stood next to him looking over the article.  
“Maybe. I’ve never travelled out of the region before.”  
“Just remember to take me with you if you do.”  
“Haha, of course! I’m pretty bad at reading maps and remembering directions. You’d _have_ to go with me as my personal navigator!”  
“I guess it’s not really a choice then. Did you think of any places to go?”  
Leon leaned up and flipped to the next page of the magazine.  
“Maybe here? They say there’s good food here and lots of famous chefs go there to open temporary restaurants.”  
“Are you sure you’re not just picking this place for this?”  
Raihan pointed to a section about a convention for a particular clothing brand to be held next year. There was a picture of a limited edition snapback that would only be available for purchase at the event.  
“Ah- that only influenced my decision just a little bit…”  
“I don’t mind going there next year. I guess I should start saving up then.”

“Hey Lee, you in there?”  
Hop knocked on the door and then opened it. Gloria and Marnie were behind him.  
“Ohhh!!! It is him!”  
“Hey, you must be Gloria!”  
Raihan turned to her and smiled. Gloria was still hiding behind Hop and just peeking over his shoulder.  
“Ahhhh! It’s real! His teefie!”  
“His what?”  
“Didn’t I tell you about it before, Hop?”  
Gloria pulled out her cell phone and looked for a social media profile to show him. The name of the profile was ‘The Great Raihan’s teefie’ and it just had a lot of pictures of him smiling or just showing off his canine tooth. It was one of Raihan’s alternate accounts which he has left inactive for a while.  
“What the- why are there so many people following this? He hasn’t posted anything in the last few months!”  
“People just like following cute things. I made an account for my hamster and she has more followers than me.”  
“Marnie… that’s completely different.”  
“Oh yeah! Raihan, I need to tell you something.”  
Marnie walked closer to him from the door.  
“I tried the idea you suggested. Me and my brother had a live stream. It was quite the success, we had a ton of viewers!”  
“Really? Piers didn’t tell me anything about it when I asked.”  
“Maybe we can watch it together. I have the video uploaded on my channel.”  
“We can watch it after lunch. It’s already noon so let’s head downstairs.”

The rest of Leon’s family members were back, and Raihan introduced himself to them, leaving out that he was his boyfriend for the time being. He offered to help Leon’s mother with the food prep while Leon entertained the others while waiting.  
“Don’t worry ma’am, I think I’m quite a decent cook. I definitely know more than just cracking eggs so let me help out.”  
“Oh, thank you so much Raihan. Leon’s always telling me how you let him try a bite of your home cooked lunches you bring to work. He tries to get me to recreate them.”  
“Haha, I hope I didn’t give you too much trouble because of that...”  
Raihan helped out with preparing the meat and chopping up vegetables for the salad. In a short time, most of the appetizers were done and the others came back to help set up the dining table with plates and eating utensils.  
“I can’t believe Raihan cooked this! It’s delicious!”  
Gloria was eating a pasta dish prepared by him.  
“I asked my bro to come but he didn’t wanna. I think I’ll send him a picture to see how much he’s missin’ out.”  
Marnie took out her phone and sent Piers a few pictures she took of her and her friends, as well as food on the table. She also sent him a message saying ‘Raihan cookes better than you’ to which he could only reply with a crying emoji.  
Raihan sat next to Leon and he was helping him grab more food to put on his plate.  
“Here try this.”  
He pushed his plate closer to him. There were a few juicy pieces of meat on it and Leon picked some up with his fork to put in his mouth.  
“It would have tasted better if you fed it to me.”  
Leon said in a quiet voice, but it was still loud enough for his neighbour to hear.  
“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that, now pass me another skewer, Lee!”  
After dessert, Raihan decided to walk around and chat with the other adults in the living room. They were quite pleased with how friendly and approachable he was, but most of all they were happy that Leon was happy. When he was starting to get bombarded with career related questions Leon appeared to drag him out of the room and hang out with the others.

The five of them moved to Hop’s room to watch a replay of Marnie’s stream. It was also the first time Raihan had seen Piers looked so relaxed and happy just from spending time with his sister. At the office, he always looked like he was irritated, or about to fall asleep, but he thought it was just part of being in the support role. Piers had a guitar in hand, and sometimes sang. His lyrics were what would be his next move while playing the game, and Marnie would have to remind him that he’s leaking strats. It was no surprise that Marnie won a lot of the battles because of it, and it was like watching a comedic duo. After that they just continue to lounge around in Hop’s room to chat and play other video games. Hop turned on his computer screen and it showed his browser opened to the ticket purchasing page for his school’s prom night. He had forgotten all about it while they were playing games. Gloria had told him she was going to leave before dinnertime so he decided to muster up his courage and ask.  
“H-Hey Gloria…”  
“Hmmm?”  
Gloria turned around after pausing the game she was playing with Marnie on the TV.  
“Did you buy a prom ticket yet? I was wondering if you would like to go together with me.”  
Gloria stared at him in surprise, and then smiled cheerfully.  
“Of course! Let’s go together!”  
“Hey wait…”  
Marnie interrupted. She was looking a bit disappointed and then poked Gloria’s shoulder.  
“You promised you’d go with me, Gloria! Did you forget already?”  
“What the? When did you ask her?”  
“This morning.”  
“Oh opps... Why don’t we all go together? Marnie, didn’t you ask me because you just didn’t want to go alone?”  
“...”  
It was getting a bit awkward but Marnie could see how happy Gloria was when Hop asked her.  
“Okay fine. The three of us can go together but you two better not leave me all alone!”  
“Hehe, of course Marnie!”  
The two unpaused their game and went back to playing. Hop let out a sigh and then proceeded to order his ticket. It didn’t go as well as he hoped, but at least he won’t be going there alone. Marnie then got a call from her brother that he’d be picking her up at the station so Gloria decided to leave a bit earlier just to walk her there. Hop went downstairs to see them out before returning back to his room.  
“Well, that wasn’t how I was hoping for it to turn out but I guess I don’t mind.”  
“Yep that’s the right mindset, champ. You already did a lot better than me!”  
Raihan playfully ruffled Hop’s hair.  
“Hey! Haha, stop that! I also did a lot better than Lee I guess!”  
“Hmmm? What’s the story for that?”  
“W-wait Hop-”  
“Okay! It’s my turn to tell an embarrassing brother story! Lee was supposed to go with Sonia but he ended up getting lost and missed the entire event. It was quite awful. We were about to file a missing person report but came back home late at night in a taxi.”  
“Sonia told me to go there first since she was going to take a while getting dressed up. I took the train but I got off at the wrong station and ended up in Hulbury. It took a while to figure out I wasn’t in the right town to begin with. I got lost trying to get back to the station and forgot my cell phone at home… It was quite awkward for me, just wandering around holding a bouquet of roses.”  
Hop shook his head.  
“I feel so bad for Sonia. You were sleeping in the following morning, which was no surprise since you looked completely exhausted the previous night. Her friend Nessa even paid us a visit and demanded that you come out and apologize. She spent the night comforting her since she thought that you’ve been abducted or something. You never really told us what actually happened before coming back home. Mom said you even forgot your wallet and only took your train pass that day.”  
“Well, I definitely couldn’t tell you guys back then but I guess I can now. While wandering the streets, I saw some people crowding around a seafood restaurant, like they were waiting for some celebrity or something. I tried asking some people for directions back to the station but they paid me no mind. I ended up walking behind the restaurant since they were blocking the sidewalk, but then a car stopped and a man in a suit stepped out from the passenger seat. He looked over to me and asked me if that bouquet was for him. I told him I was supposed to be somewhere else but the event was probably over so he could have it. Then he said he’d buy me dinner. I… I couldn’t say no! I was really hungry and had been walking around for hours…”  
Both Hop and Raihan were speechless listening to the secret part of the prom story.  
“The entire restaurant was rented out to him for that particular day, and he was nice enough to treat me to a feast. I told him my story of how I got there, and that I was supposed to be at my school prom that was already over by then. We talked a little about my interests and what I was going to study in college. He gave me some advice, and by the end of it, he gave me his business card. Turns out, he was the CEO of Macros Cosmos! He paid for a taxi to take me back home. I didn’t tell you back then because I made a promise to myself that I’ll tell people about what happened that night once I make it into the company, but I guess I forgot about it along the way.”  
“... Wow. So that’s what really happened. I thought it was kinda weird that as soon as you woke up that morning, you asked dad for some reference books and started studying on a weekend. I guess it all makes sense now since you were also saying that you wanted to work for Macros Cosmos back then. I thought you hit your head or something. Prior to that you were always telling mom and dad how you wanted to become a gamer NEET and leech off them-”  
“I grew up that night, alright? The tasty seafood really opened my eyes. We should go to that restaurant some time. Maybe when I get my next paycheque.”

After chatting for a little longer, Raihan decided he’d also head home before the sun sets. Leon went outside with him and walked him to the station. He stayed with him waiting for the next train to arrive.  
“Oh, before I forget Leon, I want to give you this.”  
Raihan took his hand, placed a key in his palm and bashfully turned away.  
“I mean… since I have a key to your place in Wyndon, it only makes sense that you have one to mine…”  
Leon hugged him from behind.  
“Thanks, Rai! Can I visit you tomorrow?”  
“You can visit me anytime. Just call and make sure I’m there.”  
“Okay.”  
The train had finally arrived on the platform. Raihan took out his train pass to get ready to cross the gates and board it.  
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
He turned around to wave goodbye, but Leon quickly caught up to him.  
“Wait Raihan, I need to tell you something.”  
“Quick, There’s only one minute before the doors close.”  
“I love you.”  
He got on his toes and gave him a light peck on the lips, before turning around and running a distance away. He stopped to look back, only to see Raihan frozen in place.  
“Oh come on, Raihan! The doors are closing!”  
Raihan stood there in a daze, his face was turning red, and one of the train conductors asked him if he was still boarding.  
“Ah! Y-Yes I am…”  
He quickly hopped on the train and the doors closed behind him. Peering through the window, Leon was already out of sight.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> rip

“Hello, Raihan. Can you come with me for a bit?”  
Melony dropped by his desk. Raihan got up from his seat and locked his computer screen. He was about to pick up a pen and a notebook but she stopped him.  
“No need for those. We’ll just have a quick chat in one of the empty meeting rooms.”  
Raihan had a feeling of what this was going to be about. There was a little less than two months left in his contract. On the other side of the floor, they finally found a room they could use and they both sat down to discuss.  
“I’m sure you might know what this is about. The project’s going smoothly, or so I heard from Opal. She doesn’t exaggerate about these things, so that’s great to hear! You’re doing a fantastic job, Raihan!”  
“Haha… Yeah I worked pretty hard on it, thanks!”  
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. I’ve been getting a lot of positive comments from both the team and our clients about you. But the thing is… in a few months, there won’t be much of a team left here.”  
“Uhh… what do you mean by that?”  
“The team is actually being disbanded, well not this team only, a few others are also affected. Not sure if you had noticed that I already talked with Kabu earlier, but I’m only able to talk about this department’s reorganization now since it’s just been confirmed.”  
“Oh… well that’s unfortunate. Are there any options for me?”  
“That’s what I would like to talk to you about. If I still had a team after these upcoming months, I would gladly give you an offer, but now it’s difficult for everyone. What I can do for you is also look for other opportunities from other teams to take you in if you would like to keep working in this company. Just let me know if that’s what you want, or maybe you already had other plans in mind.”  
Raihan wasn’t sure what to say. His disappointment was immeasurable. He had hoped to be able to stay with his colleagues and work with them a little longer, plus now it’s inevitable that he has to go through the whole job interview process again.  
“For now I guess I’d like you to let me know of any other opportunities within the company. I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”  
“Alright. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”  
Melony checked her phone. There was only about half an hour until noon.  
“Well, it’s also time for me to have a talk with Piers about the same thing. It’s almost lunch time already so you can take your break earlier if you want.”  
“Alright, thanks.”

Raihan walked with Melony back to their desk area. He sat down and let out a sigh while unlocking his computer. Nessa then moved her chair closer to his desk.  
“She told you, huh? It sucks for all of us. I think even our clients are affected.”  
“Really? Both Leon and Sonia?”  
“Yeah. There’s a rumor that Oleana is leaving. Not sure if it’s true though since Sonia said she heard nothing about it. Her department gets a lot of wild rumors, and they’re sometimes pretty funny.”  
Moving to a different team should be something he wanted since he was in a relationship with Leon. He wouldn’t have to feel the need to keep their love life a secret, but he was starting to become attached to his current team. Looking around the office, most of the people are old, and he felt lucky to have people in his same age group like Nessa, Milo, and Piers. Of course, he liked working with Kabu and Melony as well. Opal had already announced her retirement a month back. Raihan had always playfully questioned her why she didn’t retire earlier but she kept claiming she was only eighteen years old.  
“I guess I like working with you all and can’t help but feel depressed over it.”  
“Aww, come on. We’re all in the same situation and we all feel the same way! Were you thinking of finding a different team to stay or looking outside the company?”  
“Of course I want to stay. Isn’t the salary here good? Plus I’ll finally have health insurance, those prescription pills for my cold weren’t cheap!”  
“Hey, we can’t talk about things like salaries here! Why don’t we grab lunch together. I’ll see if I can get a hold of both Sonia and Leon too.”  
“Sure.”  
Nessa moved back to her computer to message them. Raihan turned back to his own and checked his emails. Milo was still testing his application, and he didn’t message him any new bugs he found. There were a few existing bugs he had to fix so he was looking them over again while Nessa was waiting for a reply.  
“Okay, let’s head down. They’ll be waiting for us near the elevators.”

When they got to the ground floor, Leon and Sonia were already there leaning by a wall waiting. Leon was on his phone while Sonia was looking a little glum. She perked up immediately after seeing Nessa.  
“Hi Nessa, do you have a place in mind for food?”  
“Hmmm, I’m not too sure. Maybe we can go to a quieter food court and see what we like?”  
On the way there to a father food court from the office, Sonia walked side by side with Nessa while Raihan and Leon kept to their pace behind them. Raihan had his arm around Leon, and he was talking to him about other travel destinations he was interested in. Sonia was looking back at them from time to time.  
“What? Is there something on Raihan’s face?” Nessa noticed and decided to ask.  
“Ah! No, not at all…”  
“Yeah, why is it _my_ face, Nessa?”  
“Eheh… It’s nothing. I was just checking if they were still behind us.”  
Sonia looked a tad dejected, but Nessa knew she would keep her feelings bottled up while the others were still there. She wasn’t sure what was bothering her but she thought it might have had to do with Leon, but him acting chummy with Raihan wasn’t anything new to them.  
After buying food, they found a table to sit down and eat. Nessa brought up the topic on the department reorganization, and asked Leon and Sonia again if they were also affected.  
“I’m not sure, I’ve already asked Oleana a number of times. She was pretty adamant about confirming with us after the winter holidays.” Leon answered.  
“Are you still thinking of leaving?”  
Sonia shyly asked. It was the first time Raihan heard about it, but Leon had only mentioned this to Sonia and Piers. He had been working for Oleana for almost three years now, and he didn’t enjoy working for her very much. She was hard to please even when he was able to give good results, but the low effort he put into filling out his year-end evaluation may have affected his chances of a promotion. Not to mention that he was essentially competing with his childhood friend for a higher bonus at the end of the year. There was never enough budget to give them both a high rating, and after the first year Sonia joined his team, he was already thinking of leaving since he felt pretty bad always having to lie to her about the higher rating he got compared to her.  
“I’ll definitely stay within the company, but I’m just unsure if I wanted to keep working for Oleana. It’s been three years, and sometimes I feel that maybe I should move on and try getting into something new.”  
“Ah, I see… I guess it is a little hard reporting to Oleana.”  
It was a depressing topic to talk about but everyone’s job was still secure, except for Raihan. Raihan had his head down resting against his arms on the table.  
“Hey Raihan… Don’t feel bad, I’m sure you’d find another team in no time! Your role’s always in demand.”  
Leon was poking his arm. Raihan then held onto his finger with his hand, refusing to let him go.  
“Jeez, Raihan! Are you a kid or something? We know you two are like best friends, but you should only do that to your lover, or she’ll get jealous.”  
Nessa scolded him, and he quickly sat up straighter and let go, remembering that he should probably keep his hands to himself in public.  
“Ah! Y-you’re right…! Sorry about that Leon.”  
He turned away, looking suspiciously guilty in Nessa’s eyes. Sonia also raised a brow as Leon nervously laughed it off. Leon decided to ask a question to break the silence.  
“So what’s for dessert?”  
“You’re still hungry?” Nessa scoffed.  
“Just enough room for dessert.”  
“Let’s go grab ice cream on the way back then. You girls coming?”  
Raihan was getting up from his seat already, and Leon followed. Sonia got up but took her empty coffee cup with her.  
“I’m fine, but I need to get a refill first. I guess you guys can go on ahead.”  
“Sure, see you later.”  
Leon and Raihan left, and once again Raihan wrapped his arm around Leon’s shoulder as they walked through the underground shopping district.

Sonia had asked Nessa to look after her purse while she was getting a refill. When she came back, instead of also wanting to head back to the office, she sat back on the chair and let out a sigh.  
“Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?”  
Nessa asked, now that guys were gone. Sonia still stayed silent, taking sips from her cup.  
“You’re not actually bothered by Raihan being chummy with Leon, are you? Although… I’ve never seen Raihan do this with the other guys on our team, but I think Leon’s just the only one who lets him get a little touchy.”  
“That’s because they’re dating…”  
“What? They can’t be dating, Raihan has a-”  
“He’s lying.”  
Nessa wasn’t sure what to say since she didn’t believe it. Sonia rested her cheek on the palm of her hand. They were in college when they dated, but back then Leon was spending most of his time studying. It was only when the new Pokemon game came out that he started spending more time playing, and took a break from studying as hard as he did. She thought he finally had some time to relax so she asked him to be her boyfriend. She threatened to break up with him within a week over his compulsive gaming habits, but it seemed like Leon thought she actually ended it, and he had taken it personally for a bit. Eventually when she asked if he wanted to try dating again, he said he would rather wait until he was more responsible, and land his dream job first. Around the same time, she was unsure of what she wanted to do after graduating but both Nessa and Leon aimed to get a job in Macros Cosmos. She felt left out, and since she didn’t want to fall behind, she decided to chase after the same thing Leon wanted, and worked hard to land a job in the same sector. Leon scored high marks, and had turned out to be a good candidate for Oleana to pick up. Oleana’s team only had one opening during that time, so Sonia applied and worked for another team on a different floor. Eventually, she was able to transfer to Oleana’s team as soon as there was a full-timer spot. Once she started working on the team, she noticed that although Leon landed his dream job, he was now too busy with trying to pick up what others left behind, working with IT teams that were hard to deal with, and negotiating with hard-to-please clients. He still couldn’t find time for a love life. Once Raihan came into the picture, he solved a lot of Leon’s problems. He was easy to work with, and he got things done which in turn allowed Leon the chance to start leaving work on time, or even earlier. And then to her misfortune, he even stole him away. Thinking back, she should have focused on finding her own interests in college, but she will never regret the hard work she put in and the feeling of success of finally being able to work alongside him.  
“Last weekend I saw them at Wedgehurst station on my way home. It looked like Raihan was about to board the train I just got off. Leon was with him, and he kissed him right before he passed the gates…”  
“R-Really…?”  
“I couldn’t believe my eyes! At the moment… I couldn’t stop thinking… about… about how it was so unfair!”  
Sonia whined, and crushed her empty coffee cup with her grip.  
“Leon never kissed me during the week we were dating! We only held hands!”  
“C-Calm down… I just can’t believe they hid it so well…”  
Sonia let out another defeated sigh and slumped back on her chair.  
“Leon does look happy being with Raihan though. I wish that could have been us, but I think it’s time to move on… Well I probably should have moved right after the first break-up.”  
“Girl, you’re already stronger than you look. If this was years ago, you’d probably be stuck at home crying over it, and calling in sick.”  
“Ohhh… I’m just too angry to cry over it! I want to know what Raihan has that I don’t!”  
Nessa wasn’t going to try giving an answer to that, but was genuinely happy her friend for not being _too_ distraught over it like during her first break-up.  
“Let’s head back, or talk about something else at least. You’ll just beat yourself up from thinking too much about it.”  
“Nooo, I don’t wanna head back yet.”  
She let go of her now crumpled coffee cup, but then turned to Nessa with a grin on her face.  
“Okay fine, we’ll talk about something else. Let’s talk about Milo-”  
As soon as Nessa heard that name, she got up and grabbed her purse.  
“No way. Nevermind, I’m heading back to the office.”  
“H-hey wait!” Sonia got up and followed her.  
“You know what, I’m actually craving some ice cream now too. Want to go get some? My treat.”  
“Hehe. Thanks, Nessa!”

…

“Hey, can I stay over tomorrow night?”  
Raihan asked Leon while he was getting changed in the locker room at the fitness centre. A week had already gone by and Melony didn’t tell him any recommended job postings she knew of. He had tried looking on his own and even contacted the previous developers on the jobs, but he wasn’t too interested after hearing their input since it would be mostly working with third-party applications. While spending the time to search for a job, he ended up spending less time with Leon but now he wanted to take a break and make up for it.  
“Why not tonight?”  
“I can’t tonight, I promised my fans I’d stream tonight.”  
“Awww. I can’t tomorrow night though… or well I guess you can come but I’d be home late. Tomorrow’s the year-end party.”  
“Wait, already? I thought it would be a month later.”  
“It’s always scheduled a month early because they want more people to go. Most people would be on vacation if they held it a month after.”  
“Oh… Maybe I can tell my fans I’ll postpone it to tomorrow.”  
Leon put his coat on and picked up his bag, ready to leave. While they were walking in the direction to his apartment, he checked his phone and noticed he got a few messages from Hop.

_You better let Raihan go home early we’re all eager to watch his stream tonight!_  
_Gloria is at our place. We just finished our exams and can’t wait._  
_Raihan hasn’t streamed for a while now too, you better not hog him all to yourself!_

“Ahhh…”  
“Something wrong?”  
Raihan asked since Leon stopped walking.  
“Hop and Gloria are looking forward to you streaming today. In fact, they’ll be kind of angry at me if you postpone it.”  
“Really? I’m sure they’re just joking and can wait another day.”  
“Hmmm… well to be honest, I’m a little curious to see how you stream at home. I don’t actually want to appear on camera, I just want to watch from a distance.”  
“Aww, but I want to spend more time with you-”  
“L-Look Rai… I don’t want to ruin my little brother’s date night!”  
“Huh!? Well I guess we can make it on time if we turn back to the station now.”  
Leon grabbed his hand and started walking a different way.  
“Okay, let’s quickly get there then-”  
“Hey wait! It’s that way…”  
Raihan pointed in the correct direction.  
“Ah- opps.”  
“I can let you watch me stream on one condition though.”  
Raihan gave him an uneasy look.  
“Hmmm?”  
“You better not do what you did the last time I was working… especially if I’m streaming in front of a bunch of people live…”  
Leon’s face went red in a mix of anger and embarrassment.  
“Wha- O-Of course I won’t! Don’t worry about that Rai, I promise I won’t even do what I did last time at your place-”  
“W-wait! Don’t _not_ do it, I meant just don’t sit right next to me out of sight while I’m-”  
“Hmph!”  
Leon turned away and walked faster, past the intersection they were supposed to make a turn at to the station.  
“Leon! Wait, that’s the wrong direction, come back!”  
Raihan quickly caught up to him, apologized, and they made their way back to the station.

…

“It’s been a while since you last stayed.”  
Raihan turned his key and opened the door to his house. The two of them went in and took off their coats.  
“That’s because the last time I came, you made it very hard for me to leave!”  
“That was your fault for doing that to me at the station! I should have dragged you back home with me right then and there!”  
“That’s because _you_ didn’t say those words directly to me. Only to my mom and Hop. I heard you on my way back to the kitchen.”  
Leon continued arguing with him.  
“I saw that you were still sleeping and then decided to make you something to eat. When I went in your room to wake you up, you practically ripped my clothes off and started kissing me all over. You only told me you love me while leaving marks all over me again. I could only go back to the gym today since the marks had finally faded.”  
“Alright, I get it! I promise not to do that again tonight! Anyway, I need to get changed.”  
Raihan went into his room and started changing out of his work clothes. He put on a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants before turning on his personal computer. While he was fixing up the position of his webcam, Leon went into his room and started changing into something more comfortable.  
“Oh no, I can’t show this to my viewers.” He joked.  
“Ah! Were you live already?”  
“Nah I’m just kidding. Plus you’re not in the view. You can lie on the bed if you want, only this small section of my room is visible. Also, please put on some pants. If my camera falls for whatever reason, you might be seen.”  
“Okay fine.”  
Leon rummaged through his drawers and found another pair of sweatpants to wear. He flopped on the bed and took out his phone.  
“I’ll be right here leaving you comments in the chat.”  
“Thanks babe.”

After Raihan finished setting up his game console to display on his computer and the action RPG game start screen he was playing previously had loaded up, he started up his stream.  
“Hey guys, it’s been a while but I’m back!”  
As soon as the stream started, more people started to tune in, and his chat was almost getting spammed with comments welcoming him back.  
“Yeah, I know you all miss me very much, and all I’m going to say is the game definitely did _not_ scare me away! I was actually sick with a cold for a bit. I didn’t want to sound all nasally and give you all one more thing to make fun of! Anyway, let’s get on with the game.”  
Raihan started playing the game, and only a few minutes in, he fell off a cliff and died.  
“Okay, that doesn’t count! I was just warming up. I’ll let you guys keep track of the death counter now~”  
He continued chatting with his viewers while playing the game. Sometimes when he pulled off a bad combo, he would get egged on but Leon was there typing up comments to encourage him. Raihan didn’t respond to him in particular, but those comments were able to keep him in a positive mood. He kept his focus on playing the game properly. He wasn’t going to get stuck on a boss fight for another hour again.  
“Yeah! Hell mode isn’t that hard after all! I’m really getting the hang of it.”  
After playing for another hour and a half and passing another stage, he decided to stop for the night. There were already plenty of fun moments so he thought his viewers should be satisfied.  
“Alright, I’m going to call it a day. Don’t worry, I won’t take a long break like last time. In fact, I’ll stream again tomorrow! Peace~”  
He shut off the stream along with his computer and turned around, only to see Leon’s butt facing him and he was only in his underwear again.  
“What the!? Leon! I thought I told you to wear pants!”  
“It was hot. I only took them off a while ago.”  
“You’re hot.”  
Raihan jumped on the bed and hugged Leon from behind. Leon was looking through his phone at all the pictures and videos he took of Raihan while he was streaming.  
“You look so happy doing this. Did you ever consider being like one of those full-time streamers?”  
“Not really, I just do it for fun from time to time. I rather have a steady job as a dev. I disabled the donate button once I got this job, but that was partly because I also stopped streaming as often as I did before.”  
“Really? What was the most you’ve ever gotten?”  
“A thousand dollars if I remember correctly… I refunded it immediately since the person who donated seemed a bit stalkerish... I even had to take a short break after that.”  
“Damn, a thousand dollars… in just a day.”  
“Hey, it’s not as easy as it sounds, and those donations are incredibly rare. I didn’t have that many viewers back then so maybe in just one month I’d get fifty dollars or less anyway.”  
“I see…”  
Leon was still looking through the pictures and trying to pick one to set as his phone background. Raihan let out a yawn and then pressed his lips against Leon’s neck.  
“No leaving marks.”  
“Okay…”  
He finally found a picture he liked the most. It was one where Raihan was cheering as soon as he cleared the boss stage. He set it as his phone’s lock screen.  
“If you’re done, can we make out now?”  
“Jeez, Rai…”  
Leon turned to Raihan and kissed him. Raihan invaded his mouth and he intertwined his tongue with his. When he released him a thread of saliva briefly connected the two of them. He moved his hand down and wanted to take off Leon’s underwear.  
“Can we do it today?”  
Raihan looked like he almost craved it. He slid off his sweatpants and underwear and kicked it off the bed. His hand was already stroking his own cock while the other was playfully squeezing Leon’s butt.  
_Why is he always this horny?_ Leon worriedly wondered. He moved Raihan’s hand away from his butt but held onto him.  
“We can’t today, I want to be able to walk tomorrow… but we can do the other thing you like…”  
“R-Really? I thought you said-”  
“Are you trying to get me to change my mind?”  
“Nope!”  
Raihan took off his hoodie and laid down on his back.  
“I’m waiting.” He eagerly announced. Leon could only laugh, as he takes this opportunity to tease his partner a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor raihan


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the end

“I hope Oleana doesn’t notice I’m wearing the same thing as yesterday.”  
Leon unzipped his coat now that they were indoors and walking towards the elevators. Raihan was wearing a plain hoodie and jeans. There were no meetings today so he was allowed to dress casually, Leon was a little envious since he had a strict dress code in his department.  
“You’re going back to your place to change for the party anyway right? I wish I could go with you but I guess I’m stuck here working while everyone else has fun…”  
“Ah- That’s right… you’re still a contractor so you can’t go. We’ll go together for sure next year.”  
“Uggghhhh, I really have to find a new team now, huh?”  
“I’m sure you can do it.”  
An elevator finally arrived and they boarded it. Just as the doors were about to close, someone had stuck their hand through the gap and the doors opened again. Nessa stepped into the elevator while trying to catch her breath.  
“Oh, good morning Nessa.”  
Raihan greeted her, but lately he felt as if she was avoiding him. She definitely wasn’t as talkative as before, and it didn’t look like she had that much work to do either since she was mostly looking at her phone at her desk.  
“Good morning.”  
Nessa greeted back but almost immediately turned away. Once the elevator stopped on the eighth floor, only the two of them exited out. She stood by the keycard reader, and started rummaging through her purse trying to pull out her card.  
“Hold on, I got it.”  
Raihan swifted pulled out his wallet and tapped it on the reader since it looked like she was still having some difficulty finding her card.  
“Thanks.”  
They walked to their desks, but it seemed like no one else had come in yet. Nessa immediately logged into her computer and started typing up an email. Raihan thought maybe she had just been unhappy lately. He peered over to the other side of the cubicles to make sure the rest of his team members really weren’t there.  
“Hey Nessa…”  
“Hmmm?”  
“Did you want to talk about it?”  
Nessa warily turned to him.  
“Talk about what?”  
“Uhhh… You know…”  
Raihan wasn’t sure if he should say it or not but Nessa looked like she was going to continue to stare at him disapprovingly until he said it.  
“I mean, I may have said a few things to Milo. I was wondering if anything-”  
“What!? What did you say to him???”  
Now she looked even more furious.  
“Okay, so that explains why you’re in a bad mood. Something did happen-”  
“Ugh. No, nothing happened. I’m not _really_ in a bad mood…”  
“Oh... so it’s because nothing happened yet?”  
Nessa crossed her arms. She had been avoiding Raihan after what Sonia had told her, but she was starting to feel bad for acting so petty. A part of her just wanted to keep supporting her best friend, but she should have respected Sonia’s decision that she wanted to move on. There was no reason to act this way towards Raihan so she decided to tell him the truth.  
“If I want to be in any bad mood, it was because of you Raihan.”  
“What? Why? What did I do wrong?”  
“You’re dating my best friend’s love interest. Can’t believe you didn’t tell me. It would have saved us from some awkward moments.”  
“I don’t know what you’re-”  
“We already know, Raihan.”  
“The hell? Everyone knows?”  
Nessa gave him an annoyed look.  
“No, that’s not what I said. Only me and Sonia know.”  
To her surprise, Raihan let out a sigh of relief. She had thought he’d act more scared having his secret known.  
“Oh, well we were going to tell you guys after the project was over anyway. Honestly, I was getting tired of hiding it.”  
“How long have you two been dating!? Did anyone else know? Just what does Leon like about you??”  
Nessa started firing off questions, almost startling him.  
“W-wait! Now you want to talk..?”  
“Hey, Good morning Nessa, Raihan.”  
Milo passed by walking toward his own desk. Before he reached it, he abruptly stopped and walked near Nessa's desk, remembering the bit of advice Raihan had given him a while back.  
“Nessa, I just wanted to tell you that I like what you did with your hair. I guess it was like that everyday anyway, but I should have told you sooner.”  
He smiled and then went back to his own desk. Raihan was trying his best to hold in his laughter but he thought Milo still executed it greatly. Nessa had a shocked expression plastered all over her face and then turned to Raihan. She quickly wheeled her office chair next to his.  
“R-Raihan!! Just what did you tell him!?”  
“I uhh… I just told him to compliment people more!”  
“That _really_ better be it, or you’ll be the first person I’ll get mad at if anything else happens!”  
Nessa finally went back to her desk, and Raihan decided to focus on investigating the last bug Milo reported. It wasn’t too complicated to fix, and after doing a quick test on his end without any issues, he sent it back to his QA. Now he was bored with nothing to do. He decided to send some messages to Leon on his phone.

_Raihan: <33333_  
_Leon: <3333333_

And then they started spamming stickers to each other. He loved it when Leon would act just as silly as him. Nessa noticed him smiling at his phone and having nothing better to do, so she moved next to his desk again.  
“Don’t think that I forgot what I asked. So what does Leon like about you?”  
Raihan turned the screen off on his phone and set it on the table.  
“Let’s see… I mean, I already have a lot of good qualities.”  
“Oh really? Why don’t you name some of them.”  
“Well, for instance, I have a very, _very_ big-”  
“You better not say anything gross!”  
“...Heart.”  
He took his phone and showed Nessa the message he sent to Leon.  
“Leon’s heart is bigger though. That’s why I like him.”  
“Wow, you guys are kinda weird.”  
“Nothing weird about being in love, you should try it with Milo sometime.”  
“Gah!!! R-Raihan!”  
Nessa quickly stood up slightly to check if Milo heard him, but thankfully he was wearing headphones.  
“I’ll get you back for this!”  
Nessa went back to her desk again, face flushed. Raihan felt a little bad after teasing her, but at least he could continue texting Leon again.

When it was a few minutes until noon, Melony dropped by everyone’s desk again except for Raihan’s first. She was reminding them to be on time for the year-end party which was going to start sometime in the afternoon. Basically all the full-timers had half-day off today. Once she sent the message to everyone, she stopped by Raihan’s desk.  
“Unfortunately, you need to show your ID at the venue, so I can’t sneak you in.”  
“Awwww…”  
“Everyone’s going to be gone, so you can go home early as well. We won’t be returning after lunch, or at least I think nobody will. You can do the same unless you have work to do.”  
“Alright, thanks for letting me know.”  
Melony went back to her desk to grab her things, and then waved goodbye to him. As soon as she left, some of the others started packing up as well.  
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Raihan. Enjoy the rest of your day.”  
“You too Nessa, have fun at the party.”  
As soon as she left and was out of sight, Raihan quickly went to Milo’s desk.  
“Hey Milo, remember you gotta compliment her at the party! You gotta make it more descriptive!”  
“Ah, okay. I’ll remember to do that. Are you going to go there as well? Last year there were contractors there.”  
“Really? Melony told me they’re not allowing them this year and that they’ll be checking IDs…”  
“Oh, that sounds new. That’s unfortunate but I could see why. Last year the venue was over capacity and only the people who showed up early could get in.”  
Milo was getting ready to leave, but he told Raihan the bug he was working on was fixed which meant he could go home as well. Everyone else had already left except for Piers, who was on his way back to his desk after dumping out the contents left in his mug.  
“Hey Piers, you going to that party too?”  
“Nah, I’m goin’ home. Marnie wants me home, and I don’t care too much about these kinds of parties.”  
“I see…”  
“I better get goin’. Marnie doesn’t want me to be late. She wanted me to watch somethin’ with her later today but she wouldn’t tell me what. See you tomorrow.”  
“Alright, bye.”  
Piers stuffed his headphones into his bag and left. Raihan had a feeling that what Marnie wanted to watch was his stream since he posted on his profile about it a short while ago. He decided to go home now as well, since Leon wasn’t going to be able to eat lunch with him. Leon had a team lunch and he was going to go back to his apartment to rest for a bit before going to the party.

…

After putting on a clean suit, Leon checked his appearance in the mirror. His blazer was looking boring as usual, so he went back into his room to find a brooch. He had only ever bought one in his life, and it was the same one he was supposed to wear to his high school prom that he missed. It was in the shape of a purple rose, and he placed it on the left lapel of his blazer before putting on a coat and heading out. On his way to Rose of the Rondelands he received a text message from Sonia asking him to meet up at the lobby so they could look for Oleana together. Once he reached the lobby, he didn’t see Sonia, but managed to find Nessa. After leaving his coat to the coat check, he made his way toward her.  
“Hey, Nessa, have you seen Sonia anywhere?”  
“She’s just in the ladies room checking her makeup. She should be back soon.”  
Nessa looked him over head to toe.  
“Is that a new suit just for this occasion? You’re pretty dressed up for this event, most of my coworkers still come in business casual.”  
“Man, I wish I could come in business casual. My boss actually reminded me to wear a suit since she said the CEO might be here today.”  
“Eh!? Really? Maybe I should have worn another dress...”  
“Yeah. He was here last year, but he only visited a lot later into the night.”  
“Oh, Nessa! There you are.”  
Milo came by and greeted her and Leon.  
“What’s up, Milo?” Nessa asked.  
“Nothing really. Just wanted to tell you your red dress looks as beautiful as the cherry tomatoes I picked this morning from my indoor plant. You’re welcome to drop by my place if you want to pick up some over the weekend. Also, just letting you know the team’s just hanging around over there by the pillar so drop by later.”  
“Oh, ummm… thanks…”  
Nessa started blushing and turned away, unsure how to feel about her dress being compared to a vegetable, but nonetheless happy that Milo took notice of her appearance. She was sure that if Raihan was there, he would have been rolling on the floor right about now. Milo was still in his usual cheerful demeanor, and walked back to the pillar he mentioned. Nessa had completely forgotten Leon was right next to her until he spoke.  
“...You’re quite popular aren’t you, Nessa?”  
“Ohhhh… I swear Raihan must have said something to him again!”  
While they were chatting, Sonia came back.  
“Hey Leon, you’re here.”  
“Yeah, and wow. You look absolutely amazing!”  
Sonia had her hair in a braided updo. Her bangs were left how they usually were, and she still wore a few of her silver heart hair clips. Last year she went in business casual, but after seeing that Oleana also wore an elegant dress, she decided to wear a turquoise coloured dress with a bolero cardigan this year.  
“Hehe, thanks! Should we go find Oleana?”  
“Wow, ditching me already?” Nessa interjected.  
“Oh no! You can come with us to look for her first. I saw her earlier so she must be here but I dunno where she went…”  
“Let’s look for her together then.”

Leon glanced around the lobby, but it didn’t seem like Oleana was there. Walking around the hotel, there were a number of conference rooms open where people were going in and out with food and drinks. While walking around one of them, Sonia had spotted Oleana.  
“Ah, there she is!” She pointed to her direction and they walked toward it.  
“Hold on, she looks kind of busy- Wait, she’s talking to the CEO…”  
Rose had noticed them and then Oleana turned around. She gestured to them to come closer so she could start with introductions.  
“Rose, I’d like to introduce you to my team. This is Sonia and Leon, they work as my assistants. Nessa here doesn’t report to me but she works for our IT team. She’s a business analyst and she has been a great help.”  
“It’s nice to meet you all.”  
They all took turns to shake Rose’s hand, and they stood around while Oleana continued talking with him. Nessa eventually went back to find her team in the middle of it, but Leon and Sonia had no choice but to stay near their boss, or just step away to grab a drink. Oleana’s phone started ringing and interrupted their conversation.  
“Give me a moment to answer this. I’ll be right back.”  
Oleana left them to accompany Rose. Rose had noticed Leon’s brooch and had been staring at it for quite a while.  
“I’ve always thought you looked a little familiar but I just couldn’t remember from where when I talked to you last year… I think I remember now.”  
Leon touched his brooch and nodded.  
“Honestly, I only remembered recently as well when my brother talked about going to his high school prom. I need to thank you for your advice back then.”  
“It was such a shame. I hope your date wasn’t too upset that you missed it.”  
“Wait, what are you talking about?” Sonia asked. She was surprised to hear that Leon had met Rose prior to working at the company.  
“Ah… Actually Sonia here was supposed to be my prom date. Sorry Sonia, what really happened was I had gotten lost at Hulbury and met Rose. It had already been late at night so he let me join him for dinner before sending me home.”  
Sonia was too shocked for words and just stared at Leon. Rose was finding the situation quite amusing and let out a chuckle.  
“Since you’re both here, I’m guessing you two are still together?”  
“Oh, uhh…”  
Leon was feeling a bit awkward but Sonia answered for him.  
“No, we’re just friends. He already has a partner.”  
“My apologies, but I’m sure you have one as well, or will have one soon. You look absolutely stunning.”  
Sonia started to blush, having the CEO compliment her on her looks.  
“Th-thank you, sir…” She looked away and started twirling her hair.  
“Now, there’s something I do need to talk to you two about since you work for Oleana. Would it be alright if we move to a more private area to have a chat?”  
“Of course, sir!”  
The three of them moved to a different area that wasn’t booked for the party. There was another small empty conference room and they found a table to sit down at. Rose asked some questions about Oleana, and what it was like working for her.  
“She’s a little hard on us, but we know she means well. I’ve learned a lot from her, and she also looks after us.”  
Leon had given his opinion, and Sonia also agreed. Rose nodded in acknowledgement but then he was looking a bit worried.  
“Well, I hope she’s not back there looking for us…”  
“If you’d like, I can go back and find her, sir.” Sonia suggested.  
“That would be wonderful, thanks.”  
Sonia got up from her seat and went to search for Oleana, leaving Leon alone with Rose. Rose had wanted to have a private chat with Leon to begin with.  
“There was something I also need to ask you specifically, Leon.”  
“Hmm? What is it?”  
“Do you still want to work for Oleana?”  
“I uhh… To be honest, I’m not sure yet…”  
“I see…”  
“It’s more role related. Sometimes I’m just not sure if I want to keep doing what I do…”  
Rose gave him an understanding smile.  
“If you’d let me give you some advice like I did many years ago, I think you should trust in her that she’s looking out for your best interests.”  
“Aha… Alright.”  
They sat there in silence, and Sonia didn’t come back yet. Leon didn’t know what else to talk about, but then he remembered what happened last year.  
“Hey Rose… I’ve always wondered, what did you want to talk about in private during last year’s party?”  
“Oh? I’m surprised you remembered.”  
“Of course I remember. Everyone else in our department remembered. We had a lot of amusing rumors going around the following week after what happened last year.”  
“Oh my, is that so? To be honest, I just wanted to chat with you longer in a quieter place since I couldn’t remember where I’ve seen you from. Now I’m curious to know just what were these amusing rumors?”  
“Let’s not talk about that, Leon.”  
Oleana appeared behind him along with Sonia. Leon quickly got up from his seat and offered it to Oleana.  
“Alright, I do have a few things I need to talk to Oleana in private. It was nice getting to know you two so take the time to enjoy the party meanwhile.”  
Leon and Sonia thanked him, and went toward the other rooms for food. He sat at a small table with Sonia to eat, but now that he was all alone with her, his mind wandered to how she found out about his relationship.  
“Sonia, about earlier…”  
“Hmmm?”  
“You know about my uhh… relationship…”  
“I’m disappointed, Leon.”  
“Huh?”  
“I’m disappointed that you couldn’t even talk about these things to your childhood friend! I thought we were close, Leon! I would have supported you.”  
“Ah- wait, really?”  
Sonia smiled wearily.  
“Of course, you’re too unpredictable for me. How exactly does Raihan handle that? I might need to learn from him.”  
“It’s a long story.”  
Sonia was now looking more curious and energetic. “Oh! Please tell me all about it!”  
“It’s also a little embarrassing too! I don’t think Raihan would like it if I told you.”  
“Ugggh! Now I _really_ wanna know…”  
“I’ll tell you if Raihan lets me so you’ll have to convince him first.”  
“Alright, I’ll just get some help from Nessa as well.”  
After eating some of the food, they decided to go look for Nessa and her team. They stayed there up until the event was over and the conference rooms were being cleared out.

…

“Bro! Come quick it’s almost startin’!”  
“Alright, I’m here.”  
Piers walked over to the sofa to sit next to Marnie. Marnie had her laptop connected to the TV, but it was currently showing the stream’s countdown until it goes live. As soon as the counter hit zero, Raihan appeared on the screen.

_Hey, what’s up guys! Today we’re gonna continue where we left off last time!”_

Piers immediately groaned. He didn’t think that he was going to ditch his coworkers at the party just to watch his other coworker on TV.  
“Sis, do I really have to watch this?”  
“Of course ya do! You’re goin’ to have to take notes for me on how I can improved my own stream while I enjoy watching this episode of Raihan’s stream! You promised last night that you’d help me.”  
“Sis… you can’t keep askin’ me things when I’m half asleep, I’ll probably end up agreein’ to somethin’ I don’t wanna do-”  
“Well you already promised so you shouldn’t go back on your word.”  
“...Fine , just this time I’ll do it.”  
“Yay! Thanks a lot, bro!”  
Marnie handed him a notebook and a pen. He had no idea what he should be writing down so he just wrote song lyrics related to what was going on in the stream.  
_Boss fight time, the monster shoots a fireball coming right at me ♪  
Evade too early, couldn’t take the heat, just lost all my E-X-P ♪_

…

Raihan had stayed up too late streaming and felt sleep deprived the following morning when he woke up to his alarm at six. He decided he really needed some extra sleep, but first turned on his work laptop to send an email to his team that he’d be working from home before going back to bed. Leon went to the office, but shortly regretted it when he found out both Raihan and Sonia were working from home. Checking the rest of his unread emails, he found one sent this morning related to role changes which stated that Oleana was getting a promotion and will be taking on a vice president role in months to come. It was surprising given that there were a lot of others who worked in the department for a long time which more people had speculated to take the role after the previous VP retired. After reading the email, Leon dropped by Oleana’s desk to congratulate her.  
“Thank you, Leon. If you have some free time, I’d like to speak with you for a bit. Please book a meeting room for about an hour or so.”  
“Sure.”  
Leon went back to his desk to book a meeting while Oleana got up to go near the printers to pick up some papers. On her way back to pick up her laptop, he told her he booked an empty room nearby and went there first. She sat down with him in the room a few minutes later.  
“Leon, I know we had a one on one meeting last week, but I just wanted to go over your development plan again. I also need to discuss your year-end rating, and would like to tell you that this year you have exceeded all expectations.”  
“R-Really? Thanks!”  
“I should be the one thanking you. It seems as though there shouldn’t be any issues with the project, and it was still completed fully in the underestimated time. That saved us a lot of resources. I suppose you don’t have any issues with your rating, so let’s move on to discussing your development plan.”  
“Ah, alright…”  
Leon thought of Rose’s advice, how he should be more open to Oleana since he was his manager and all.  
“To be honest with you Oleana, I’m not sure if I want to continue working in my current role. I just feel like maybe I want to try something else but I’m not sure what.”  
“Yes. I noticed that you updated your plan recently and started taking more courses on leadership and communication. Do you want to eventually take on a manager role? Or do you have other interests?”  
“Hmmm, are there any roles that involve travelling to other countries?”  
“Travelling… you might find some opportunities to travel if you become a manager, but the chances are pretty slim. I can help you look into it.”  
“Alright, thanks.”  
“I still need to talk about next year’s goals with you, although you already know of my promotion, there’s still a number of months left before I fully transition to my new role. I’ve already discussed some ideas with Rose, and some other higher ups. Possibly in one or two week’s we’ll have a clearer picture of what’s left to do for our team. Until then if possible, and I know it’s a selfish request, but I’d like for you to continue working with me.”  
Leon was quite surprised at Oleana’s request, but he agreed to it.  
“I don’t want to keep you here for too long, but there’s one last thing I need your help on. An acquaintance of mine had asked me to help him look for an applicant for his development team. Possibly in the future, his team might work with us to create a new product.”  
Oleana passed the papers she had in front of her to Leon.  
“I don’t think I need to spell out to you what this means, but I just want to say I don’t enjoy seeing talent go to waste so please give this to someone who you feel is appropriate for the job. If there isn’t much to do today, you can probably leave early. I will be stuck in meetings for the rest of the day.”  
Oleana took her laptop and went back to her desk to pack up her things and grab her coat. She was going to have to move to a neighbouring building for meetings related to her new role.

…

After looking at the internal job listings page and finding nothing new, Raihan got up from his desk and laid on his bed checking his phone. Leon didn’t text him at all today, and he thought he was probably going to go stay with his parents over the weekend. While mulling over the feeling that he was being neglected, he heard the sound of his front door open. _Is it a burglar? Or worse, a stalker?_ He opened his door slightly to take a peek and confirm the possibility, but it was just Leon, the lovely thief who stole his heart. It was only four, so he was surprised to see him here. As soon as he stepped out of his own room, Leon charged at him and gave him a big hug after taking off his coat and shoes.  
“I have good news for you, Rai!!!”  
He let go of him and then rummaged through his work bag, taking out the papers Oleana had given him.

~

Leon carried his luggage into his hotel room. He immediately laid down on the bed, feeling exhausted after being on a twelve hour flight. Before he fell asleep, he heard a knock on the door. He quickly got up to open it.  
“Hey babe, help me out here.”  
Raihan passed him one of his smaller luggages to carry into the room. Two years had passed since Raihan got his full-time job working in the same company as him. The two of them were now on their first business trip together to showcase their software application product to the Devon Corporation. Once Oleana stepped into her new role, one of her goals was to help sell Macros Cosmos products internationally. She had suggested that if Leon wanted to travel frequently in his job, he could apply to be a product consultant and go on business trips. He was already skilled at communicating with clients and business partners, so she gave various teams the recommendation to pick him up for the role. Raihan had taken the developer job, and eventually got the chance to work with Leon again.  
“Thank goodness you came with me to this trip! When I told Oleana I was bad with directions, she was almost livid and then sent me a bunch of travelling books and guides on how to read maps.”  
“Haha, you can practice later under my supervision. Are you tired, or you wanna go exploring and get dinner? I was scared you were going to fall asleep before I came.”  
Unfortunately for their first trip, Leon’s flight was full so Raihan had to book one that was scheduled to land right after his. There were a few delays, but Raihan managed to make it to the hotel an hour after Leon did. He wasn’t about to tell him that he was indeed about to fall asleep before he came.  
“I feel more energetic now that you’re here. Let’s go out for some fresh air.”  
They walked down the streets of Rustboro city hand in hand. There was a beach near the outskirts of the small city, so they decided to explore the area and take some pictures before heading back to the hotel restaurant for dinner. The two of them barely had any sleep on the flight, and were already cuddled up in bed before ten. Raihan nuzzled up against Leon while he was setting an alarm on his phone to wake them up the next day.  
“...Wanna do it?”  
Raihan asked, already caressing him and kissing his neck.  
“Okay, but no leaving marks.”  
Some things never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that you've come this far, I just wanna say thanks a lot for reading! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [my 18+ twitter fanart acc](https://twitter.com/mkrcry)


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